Indicator Profile of Substance Abuse among High School Students

Why Is This Important?

Among youth, the use of alcohol and other drugs has been linked to unintentional injuries, physical fights, academic and occupational problems, and illegal behavior.

Drugs of abuse have been shown to alter gene expression and brain circuitry, which interferes with an individual's ability to make voluntary decisions, leading to addiction. Cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and lung disease can all be affected by drug abuse. Some of these effects occur when drugs are used at high doses or after prolonged use, however, some may occur after just one use. [1]

[1] http://www.nida.nih.gov/consequences/

Percentage of Students Who Used an Illegal Substance on One or More of the Past 30 Days, by Year, New Jersey, 1995-2009

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View Data For This Graph


Data Notes

*This is a Healthy New Jersey 2010 (HNJ2010) Objective.* ** The survey is only conducted in odd-numbered years. Recent use of cocaine and inhalants was not asked in every survey. 

Data Sources

New Jersey Student Health Survey, New Jersey Department of Education, Division of Student Services, Office of Educational Support Services; 

Definition

Percentage of public high school (9th-12th grade) students who reported using alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, or inhalants on one or more days in the 30 days preceding the survey

How We Calculated the Rates

Numerator: Number of public high school survey respondents who reported using alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, or inhalants in the 30 days preceding the survey
Denominator: Total number of public high school student survey respondents

Page Content Updated On 10/19/11, Published on 12/02/11
Division of Addiction Services, New Jersey Department of Human Services, 120 S. Stockton Street, 3rd Floor, Trenton NJ 08611, Phone: 609-292-5760, email: dmhas@dhs.state.nj.us, Web: http://www.state.nj.us/humanservices/das/home/
The information provided above is from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services' NJSHAD Web site (http://nj.gov/health/shad). The information published on this website may be reproduced without permission. Please use the following citation: "Retrieved Wed, 16 May 2012 16:19:12 from New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, Center for Health Statistics, State Health Assessment Data Web site: http://nj.gov/health/shad".

Content updated: Wed, 2 May 2012 04:01:14 EDT