A recent study reveals that teens on Native American reservations continue to start using alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drugs at younger ages and are more likely to report doing so than counterparts elsewhere in the United States.
Researchers compared responses from 1,660 Native American children in grades 8, 10, and 12 who self-identified as such and attended schools on or near reservations during the 2016–2017 academic year to those from American adolescents in general on comparable surveys.
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Eighth-grade Native American students reported marijuana usage at a rate of 23%, alcohol use at a rate of 16%, binge drinking at a rate of 12%, and cigarette smoking at a rate of 11%.
When researchers examined the lifetime prevalence of substance use among eighth graders, usage was significantly greater. According to this survey, 44% had ever used marijuana, 40% had drunk alcohol, 23% had become inebriated, and 30% had smoked cigarettes.
The Native eighth graders were more likely to use marijuana, 70% more likely to consume alcohol, more than twice likely to become inebriated, and three times more likely to smoke cigarettes than other kids in the United States.
By the time, Native American teenagers reached high school, substance use had become more widespread among them, but their relative risk of smoking, drinking, and using drugs was no longer as high as that of other American teenagers.
This is due to the fact that in high school rather than earlier in adolescence, more kids nationwide experimented with alcohol and drugs.
With the exception of substance abuse other than marijuana, where the gap between Native Americans and other teens has grown since the earlier study, the researchers note that the considerably higher rates of alcohol and drug abuse among Native teens have not changed much since a comparable comparison in 2009–2012.
