This year's Monitoring the Future survey has found that drug use among adolescents is continuing to decline. Reported use of some drugs declined significantly.

"Annual prevalence for the three grades combined [8th, 10th, and 12th] did fall significantly this year for both Ritalin and methamphetamine. Ritalin is a prescription amphetamine drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Its use outside of medical supervision was first measured in the study in 2001; it has been falling since then, with total declines of between 25 percent and 42 percent at each grade level."

Though use of many drugs has decreased, some - unfortunately - have increased. Over-the-counter cold medication and ecstasy both increased, though neither increase was significant. Monitoring the Future is an annual study sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and conducted by the University of Michigan.

Labels: addictions, drug_use, prescription_drug_abuse