Addictions Treatment Blog

From Coalitions Online - "After a decade of consistent declines in teen drug abuse, a new national study released this week found marked upswings in the use of various drugs, such as alcohol, marijuana and Ecstasy. The 2009 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) was released by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and the MetLife Foundation.

According to this year’s PATS, the number of teens in grades 9-12 that used alcohol in the past month has grown by 11 percent, (from 35 percent in 2008 to 39 percent in 2009), past year Ecstasy use shows a 67 percent increase (from 6 percent in 2008 to 10 percent in 2009) and past year marijuana use shows a 19 percent increase (from 32 percent in 2008 to 38 percent in 2009). The PATS data mark a reverse in the remarkable, sustained declines in several drugs of abuse among teens: methamphetamine (meth) was down by over 60 percent and past month alcohol and marijuana use had decreased a full 30 percent over the past decade from 1998-2008."

One question I have is whether or not the surveys were accurate in previous years - how could they suddenly shift after so many years of steady decline? Was there some major influence in the past year that changed the attitudes and drug usage of this many teens in America? Regardless of how, it does seem to indicate that drug use is going up and not down - we predicted this on more than one occasion in recent years to be the case. On a policy level, it is time to divert as many funds away from methadone programs and private prisons and get that money spent on effective long-term drug rehabs and addiction treatment centers. Factor in the above statistics with the massive increase in prescription drug addiction and we have a major problem on our hands that people need to wake up to - whether it's your family member, someone on the road, or even a stranger that you're having to pay for with your tax money - it has to be handled by rehabs that can prove they work. We can help you find treatment centers like that.