CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 7, 1999--By the time they reach nine years of age a small but significant percentage of American students experiment with cigarettes, alcohol, deadly inhalants, marijuana, and other drugs, the National Parents’ Resource Institute for Drug Education (PRIDE) reported today.

As students reach the sixth grade (ages 11 and 12), their involvement in alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use as much as quadruples from the fourth grade, perhaps as a result of perceived peer use.

In the first national survey of drug use and violence among America’s youngest and most vulnerable students - in grades 4 to 6 - PRIDE found that hundreds of thousands of fourth graders, mostly ages nine and 10, have used cigarettes (4.1 percent), beer (7.7 percent), and inhalants (6.3 percent). The survey represents the responses of 26,086 students in 22 states nationwide.

One in four fourth graders (27 percent) reports being hurt by a student at school. With more than 3.8 million fourth graders in public and private schools, that percentage represents more than a million students.

Fourth graders are aware that drugs are prevalent in society. A quarter of them say cigarettes (24 percent) and beer (25 percent) are "easy to get," and 11 percent say marijuana is just as accessible. Nearly one in five (19 percent) say they have already started smoking cigarettes or might someday. Yet only 2 percent agree it is "OK for kids my age to smoke cigarettes."

Today’s study of students, mostly ages 9-12, dramatically demonstrates the increase in drug use that occurs when children move from elementary to middle school. Previous research supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) indicates a vulnerability to drug use when students rise from elementary to middle school and then from middle to high school (Sloboda & David, 1997).

The percentage of students reporting annual use of marijuana escalated from 0.8 percent among fourth graders to 3.7 percent among sixth graders. (Annual reported uses means the drug was consumed at least once during the past year.)
(Marijuananews note: The numbers above for alcohol and inhalants are monthly, but the first number given for marijuana is annual.)

The annual incidence of marijuana use triples (from 1.2 to 3.7 percent) after students leave the fifth grade and go to the sixth grade, the study found. Cigarette smoking and beer drinking roughly doubled between the fifth and sixth grades (cigarettes from 7 to 15 percent, and beer from 8 to 15 percent).

"It is clear from these numbers that, for 11-and 12-year-olds, the transition from the fifth to the sixth grade is a critical moment as child makes the decision whether to use drugs and engage in other bad behaviors," said Thomas J. Gleaton, Ed.D., president of PRIDE.

Gleaton noted that social factors such as associating with new friends might explain the escalation in drug use between the two grades. Sharp increases were seen in the number of students who said their friends use drugs, known as perceived use.

Among fifth graders, 27 percent said "a few" or "a lot" of their friends smoke cigarettes compared to 43 percent among sixth graders. For beer, 19 percent of fifth graders said friends drink, versus 31 percent for sixth graders. For marijuana, 6 percent versus 14 percent, respectively.

Students in all three grades were divided into two groups: those who said none of their friends use drugs, and those who reported "a few" or "a lot" of their friends used drugs.

Among the group that believes none of their friends use drugs, beer use was 2 percent and cigarette use was 0.9 percent. Among those who think some of their friends use drugs, beer use increased to 20 percent and cigarette use rose to 17 percent.

Other NIDA research (Hansen, 1997) placed drug use by peers as one of the strongest correlations in predicting adolescent drug use - ahead of deviance (aggression, truancy, vandalism, dishonesty, etc.), drug use by siblings and drug use by parents.

However, students in all three grades greatly overestimated how many of their friends use drugs when compared with actual personal reported use. While 27 percent of the fifth graders said "a few" or "a lot" of their friends smoke cigarettes, only 7 percent actually self-reported any cigarette smoking. In the sixth grade 14 percent believe their friends smoke marijuana, while only 4 percent of students reported any marijuana use.

"This misperception alone - that everyone is doing it - can be a powerful motivator behind much of the drug use we see," Gleaton said. "Youth need an accurate portrayal of drug use that begins with correcting the misperception that everyone is doing it."

Attitudinal changes regarding drugs and violence were also detected in the transition from fifth to sixth grade. The percentage of students reporting it is "OK for kids my age" to use drugs generally doubled between the fifth and sixth grades - cigarettes (2.9 to 6.6 percent), beer (3.9 to 7.2 percent) and marijuana (1.2 to 3.2 percent).
(Marijuananews note: Notice the effect of anti-marijuana prohibitionist propaganda. Twice as many kids think that it is "OK for kids my age" to use beer (7.2 percent) as marijuana (3.2 percent). )

The percentage of students responding it is "OK for kids my age to carry a gun for protection" jumped from 6 percent to 9 percent between the two grade levels. Similarly, 18 percent of fifth graders said it is "OK for kids my age to beat up another student if it is a fair fight" compared to 27 percent in the sixth grade.

Violence and the threat of violence is a real concern for students as young as nine years old. One third of fourth graders (33 percent) said they have been threatened by another student at school, and more than a quarter (27 percent) report they have been hurt by a student one or more times.

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