Results - By County for 2008
Each chart presents a summary of percentages for a specific grade level
(6th, 8th, 10th, or 12th) for a specific county. The first three columns on
each chart show what percent of the youth reported use of a substance
(alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana) in the past month. The next three columns
show the percent of youth who reported “moderate risk” or “great risk” of harm
if a person used alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana regularly. The next three
columns show the percent of youth who said their parents would disapprove
(say it was “wrong” or “very wrong”) of youth use of a substance. For the 8th and 12th
grades, there are then three additional columns showing mean age at first use
(tobacco or marijuana) and at initiation of regular use (alcohol).
Age at first use is easily misinterpreted, because the question does not measure
the same thing at one grade level as at another. The ages reported by 12th grade
youth come from a range of “10 or younger” to “17 or older”, while 8th grade youth are
only 13-14 years old, so are effectively responding from a smaller age
range. Many youth who have started use
by 12th grade had not started when they were in 8th
grade. Although both 8th
grade and 12th grade average responses are reported for this
question, care should be exercised in drawing inferences from the reported
results.
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