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Take Action in Secondary Schools

SECTION II:
Understanding Substance Use and Abuse in the School Community

It is difficult to estimate the prevalence and scope of substance use amongst students in the secondary school setting. To assist in determining this, the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS) is administered by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) every two years since 1977, to a sample of students in Grades 7-12 across the province.

This self-administered anonymous survey is used to identify trends and patterns in student drug use, high risk behaviours (e.g., violence, gambling, drinking/drugged driving), mental health concerns, and physical activity.

Highlights from the 2007 OSDUS results are presented below to reveal the alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use patterns among secondary school students. Additional details are available, and updated regularly, on the CAMH website:

www.camh.net/research/osdus.html

2007 Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey (OSDUHS): Selected Hightlights

  • Alcohol
  • Approximately two thirds (61%) of all students report drinking during the past year
  • About one-in-ten students drink alcohol at least once a week
  • Hazardous drinking varied significantly by grades (1.3% of 7th graders to 33.5% of 12th graders)
  • Males and females are equally likely to engage in hazardous drinking (18.8% vs. 18.4%)
  • Drugs
  • In 2007, 6% of students report using alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and at least one other drug (vs. 7% in 2005 and 10% in 2003)
  • In 2007, the substances most available to students were alcohol (59% of students indicated that it would be “easy” or “very easy" to obtain), cigarettes (49%) and cannabis (43%)
  • Among those who used opioid pain relievers non-medically in the past year, 72% indicated that these were obtained from home
  • Regional and Sex Differences
  • Females are more likely than males to report both hazardous drinking and elevated psychological distress (12% vs. 6%)
  • 27% of males vs. 25% females reported binge drinking (5+ drinks on one occasion) in 2007