Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series on Utah’s Student Health and Risk Prevention survey on Tooele County students. Part One is about alcohol, tobacco and drug use among youth.
Alcohol and tobacco use among local youth has dropped from previous years while marijuana use has remained flat, according to a biennial survey of Tooele County students by the state.
The Student Health and Risk Prevention (SHARP) survey is completed by students in grades 6 through 12 every other spring with results released in the fall. The survey is conducted by the Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health.
The survey, conducted last spring and released this fall, paints a picture of a county that has declined in alcohol use among teens, and that has come close to putting an end to youth cigarette and chewing tobacco use. But at the same time the new technology of e-cigarettes has become a concern.
Also, the reported use of marijuana has remained flat among county youth despite a statewide increase in usage among youth.
Tooele County youth that reported drinking alcohol in the 30 days before the survey dropped from 12 percent in 2011 to 8.3 percent in 2013.
The percentage of students that reported smoking a cigarette in the 30 days before the survey was 2.9 percent in 2013 compared to 5.5 percent in 2011. Students that reported using chewing tobacco in the 30 days before the survey also dropped from 2.3 percent in 2011 to 1.6 percent in 2013.
Students in Tooele County that reported they used marijuana rose slightly from 6.6 percent in 2011 to 6.7 percent in 2013. In 2009 the percentage for marijuana use reported among area youth was 6.8 percent.
The long-term trend shows a decrease in alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use in Tooele County youth, according to Julie Spindler, prevention specialist with Tooele County Valley Mental Health.
“Since 1998, the first year the survey was administered, the percent of students reporting that they have used alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana has dropped significantly,” she said.
Statewide, students that reported they used alcohol in the last 30 days dropped from 8.6 percent in 2011 to 7 percent in 2013.
Reported use of cigarettes by students statewide dropped from 3.8 percent in 2011 to 2.7 in 2013.
Yet, marijuana use grew statewide from 5.3 percent in 2011 to 5.8 percent in 2013.
“Fighting marijuana use among youth is real hard right now,” said Spindler. “We are telling kids not to use it and then they see in the media that other states are legalizing marijuana.”
Parental attitudes, while not a sole determining factor, are very important in teen alcohol, tobacco, and drug use, according to Spindler.
Only 4.5 percent of students that reported that their parents felt marijuana use was “very wrong” also reported using marijuana in the past 30 days. Meanwhile, 53.6 percent of students that reported that their parents felt marijuana use was “not wrong at all” reported using marijuana in the last 30 days.
The survey also reveals a large gap between what students think other students are doing and what is really happening.
Students surveyed in the county estimated that 18.4 percent of their peers smoke cigarettes every day. The actual figure is 1.2 percent.
Tooele County students also guessed that 25.7 percent of their peers drank alcohol in the last 30 days. In reality 8.3 percent of the students surveyed reported drinking alcohol in the last 30 days.
Students surveyed also said they thought 22.4 percent of all students used marijuana in the last 30 days while the real reported 30 day marijuana use was only 6.7 percent.
The survey results not only measure student behavior but are also integral in designing prevention efforts, according to Spindler.
“The data we get from surveys like this since 1998 have helped us to put our prevention grant dollars to work where they are most needed,” she said. “The better the data, the better we can put our money where the risk is.”
One of the emerging new risks is the use of e-cigarettes among youth.
While cigarette and chewing tobacco are losing popularity among county youth, 4.4 percent of students in the survey reported that they had used an e-cigarette in the 30 days before the survey. This was the first year that e-cigarette use was included in the SHARP survey.
Tooele County’s youth e-cigarette use is the third highest e-cigarette use rate of the 13 local health districts in the state.
The survey also measures community, school, family, and individual characteristics that are known by research to either put students at risk of antisocial behavior or protect them from antisocial behavior.
Survey results from 2009, 2011, and 2013 indicate that the risk factors in Tooele County are trending down and the protective factors are trending up, according to Spindler.
Spindler attributed the trend in improvement in youth drug, alcohol, and tobacco use to a variety of factors.
“We have great community support and partnership in prevention throughout the county,” she said. “And parents have become more aware and better educated.”