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Substance abuse: Montana rates higher than national rates.

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Montana's young people are drinking alcohol, drinking and driving, using illegal drugs, and smoking and chewing tobacco at rates above the rest of the nation. Those substance abuse behaviors continue to ripple through adult fife and create significant negative consequences for Montana's population.

In all indicators reporting alcohol consumption, Montana's annual rate is higher than the national rate; the same holds true for illicit drug use (Table 1). One way to evaluate the impact of substance abuse is to look at consumption and its consequences.

Consumption Rates

Tobacco consumption indicators for Montana's young people smoking cigarettes show less dramatic differences between national and state rates. However, the use of smokeless tobacco among all 8th, 10th, and 12th graders is 7 percentage points higher than in the nation as a whole.

The two most prevalent substance abuse activities among Montana's youth are binge drinking and smoking marijuana. Binge drinking is defined as having five or more drinks on one occasion. Over 18,000 9th to 12th graders report binge drinking within the past 30 days, and more than 11,000 report smoking marijuana within the past 30 days. Almost 22,000 youth in Montana report using any drug at some point during their fives. Just under 5,000 high school seniors report using methamphetamine once or more during their fives. Uses of sedatives and prescription drugs are the next most prevalent, with 3,600 reporting that they used sedatives within the past 30 days.

Binge drinking in Montana is at its highest rates among high school youth. The behavior continues through the 20s and early 30s, tapering off after age 35. Montana also ranks among the worst in the nation in numbers of high school students drinking and driving; the rate is 20 percent in Montana compared to 12 percent nationally.

This substance abuse data was gathered as part of the Bureau's Montana Kids Count program. Each year Montana Kids Count seeks to inform policymakers, service providers, and all citizens on the progress made by Montana children and the problems still facing them. By using consistent and reliable data, the program reports on the demographic, socioeconomic, health, and education status of children.

Consequence Rates

Table 2 shows indicators on the consequences of substance abuse. This table is not limited to youth, as longterm consequences of behaviors established in early years often do not show up until later in life. However, schoolbased problems do directly report on youth consequences.

The most serious consequence of substance abuse is death, and Montana's rates of alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes are high. Table 3 shows alcohol-related crashes broken down by age. Although young people under 18 are dying in fatal alcohol-related crashes, the numbers increase for young adults, reaching the highest rates among 25- to 34-year olds. After that age, the rates decrease.

Binge drinking across a lifespan is a significant problem in...

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