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Real
Stories from Connecticut on Teen Alcohol Abuse
Information provided in this page is the data described in
the Adolescent Behavioral Health reports derive principally
from national surveys conducted by the Office of Applied Studies,
a component of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration. Sources for all data used in this report appear
at the end.
ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUG USE BY TEENS IN CONNECTICUT
• Approximately 33,000 (10.9 percent) adolescents in
Connecticut used an illicit drug in the past month; 26,000
(8.9 percent) used marijuana, and 13,000 (4.4 percent) used
an illicit drug other than marijuana.
• 20.8 percent of adolescents (62,000) used alcohol
in the past month, and 12.0 percent (36,000) engaged in binge
drinking.
• 15,000 adolescents in (8,000 males and 7,000 females)
needed but did not receive treatment for drug problems.
• 11,000 females (7.4 percent) and 6,000 males (4.2
percent) needed but did not receive treatment for alcohol
problems.
• Connecticut females were more than twice as likely
as Connecticut males to have experienced a major depressive
episode (MDE) in the past year (13.2 v. 5.8 percent).
TEEN ILLICIT SUBSTANCE USE IN CONNECTICUT
Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug
in the United States. According to the combined 2003–2006
NSDUH:
• Approximately 33,000 (10.9 percent) of the 297,000
adolescents in Connecticut used an illicit drug in the past
month; 26,000 (8.9 percent) used marijuana, and 13,000 (4.4
percent) used an illicit drug other than marijuana.
• There were no significant differences on measures
of illicit substance use between males and females in Connecticut.
The misuse of pain relievers among youth is also a
major public health concern.
• In Connecticut, 8,000 males and 8,000 females used
pain relievers nonmedically in the 12 months prior to the
interview.
• Rates of past year nonmedical use of pain relievers
were similar between adolescent females and males in Connecticut
(5.7 v. 5.3 percent).
Adolescent Alcohol Use and Abuse in Connecticut
• 20.8 percent of adolescents (62,000) used alcohol
in the past month, and 12.0 percent (36,000) engaged in binge
drinking. Binge drinking is defined as 5 or more drinks on
the same occasion on at least 1 day of past 30 days.
• Rates of current alcohol use and past month binge
drinking among Connecticut adolescents were similar between
males and females; 18.8 percent of males and 23 percent of
females currently used alcohol, and 10.3 percent of males
and 13.7 percent of females engaged in binge drinking in the
12 months prior to the interview.
ADOLESCENT ALCOHOL AND ILLICIT DRUG DEPENDENCE OR
ABUSE IN CONNECTICUT
According to the 2003–2006 NSDUH:
• Nationwide nearly 1.5 million adolescents were dependent
on or abused alcohol in the past year and more than 1.2 million
adolescents were dependent or abused illicit drugs.
• Overall, the rates of past-year abuse or dependence
on alcohol were significantly higher for females than males
(6.0 v. 5.4 percent), but rates of past year abuse or dependence
on illicit drugs were similar between males and females.
• Rates of past year drug or alcohol dependence or abuse
were also similar between males and females in Connecticut;
9,000 males and 8,000 females were dependent on drugs in the
past year, 7,000 males and 11,000 females were dependent on
alcohol, and 13,000 males and 15,000 females abused or were
dependent on alcohol or drugs.
ADOLESCENT SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT IN CONNECTICUT
State treatment data for substance use disorders are derived
from two primary sources: (1) National Survey of Substance
Abuse Treatment Services (N-SSATS), an annual 1-day census
of clients in treatment and (2) the Treatment Episode Data
Set (TEDS), which provides information on annual treatment
admissions.
According to the 2006 N-SSATS survey:
• Connecticut showed a 1-day total of 22,809 clients in treatment,
the majority of whom (20,896 or 91.6 percent) were in outpatient
treatment. Of the total number of clients in treatment on
this date, 645 (2.8 percent) were under the age of 18.
According to 2003–2006 TEDS data:
• In Connecticut Adolescent males accounted for 75 percent
(2,114) of the 2,837 adolescent substance abuse admissions.
• Of the total adolescent male admissions, 37.8 percent
were other drugs only admissions, 57.3 percent were alcohol
and drugs, and 3.3 percent were alcohol only.
• Of the total adolescent female admissions, 38 percent were other drugs only, 52.1 percent
were alcohol and drugs, and 6.4 percent were alcohol only.
Among adolescent admissions in Connecticut, marijuana
and alcohol were the most prevalent substances of abuse.
• Of the total male admissions, 91.2 percent (1,927) of male admissions reported marijuana use
and 60.6 percent (1,281) reported alcohol use.
• Of the total female admissions, 79.5 percent (575) reported marijuana use and 58.5 percent
(423) reported alcohol use.
• Further, 5.9 percent (168) of adolescent admissions reported heroin use, 87 (4.1 percent) of
male admissions and 81 (11.2 percent) of female admissions; 12.8 percent of all admissions
reported cocaine use, 11 percent (234) of male admissions and 17.7 percent (128) of female
admissions.
UNMET NEED FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE TREATMENT IN CONNECTICUT
NSDUH 2003–2006 estimates that more than 1.16 million
adolescents needed but did not receive treatment for illicit
drug problems and more than 1.3 million needed but did not
receive treatment for alcohol problems. NSDUH defines “unmet
treatment need” as an individual who meets the criteria
for abuse of or dependence on illicit drugs or alcohol according
to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,
4th edition (DSM-IV), but who has not received specialty treatment
for that problem in the past year.
In 2003–2006,
• 15,000 adolescents in Connecticut (8,000 males and 7,000
females) needed but did not receive treatment for drug problems
in the past year.
• In Connecticut 11,000 females (7.4 percent) and 6,000
males (4.2 percent) needed but did not receive treatment for
alcohol problems.
Sources:
Facility Data: National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment
Services (N-SSATS)–2006 is available at: http://www.dasis.samhsa.gov.
Center for Mental Health Services Uniform Reporting System
Output Tables 2006 is available at: http://mentalhealth.samhsa.
gov/cmhs/MentalHealthStatistics/URS2006.asp
Substance Abuse Treatment Data: Treatment Episode Data Set–Concatenated
File–is available from the Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Data Archive: http://www. icpsr.umich.edu/SDA/SAMHDA.
Mental Health Treatment Data: Center for Mental Health Services
Uniform Reporting System Output Tables 2006 is available at:
http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cmhs/ MentalHealthStatistics/URS2006.asp.
TOLL FREE TEEN DRUG AND ALCOHOL REHAB HELP LINE:
1-888-757-6237
or e-mail
us.
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