Saskatchewan Federation of Police Officers 95 Drinking Alcohol use among Ontario students reached an all-time low with 50 per cent (representing 483,900 students) reporting drinking alcohol in the past year. “Though the overall decline shows promise, we see that the kids who are drinking are doing so in dangerous ways,” added Dr. Mann. “One in five (representing 193,400 students) reports binge drinking at least once in the past month and a similar percentage report blacking out on at least one occasion when drinking alcohol in the past year. Eight per cent report being injured or injuring someone else while they had been drinking.” New this year New in this year’s OSDUHS are questions on the use of waterpipes and electronic cigarettes. Almost 10 per cent (representing 88,400 students) reported smoking tobacco through a waterpipe in the past year. About 15 per cent of high school students (representing 99,800 students) reported smoking electronic cigarettes in their lifetime. For the first time the survey asked students whether they had used synthetic cannabis, commonly known by street names, “K2” or “spice.” Two per cent - representing over 17,000 students - had tried the drug. “These new numbers give us some insight into the use of alternative and emerging drugs among young people,” said Dr. Hayley Hamilton, CAMH Scientist and Co-Investigator on the OSDUHS. “We see that while cannabis use among students is holding steady since our last survey at around one quarter of students, this new synthetic form has emerged and we will want to track its prevalence in future surveys. The same holds for smoking – while the rate of students smoking has leveled off over the past few years, we see that youth are still smoking cigarettes and tobacco, but in alternate ways.” Regional differences • Students in Toronto and Western Ontario reported the nonmedical use of opioid prescription pain medication at higher rates than the rest of the province (15 per cent and 13 per cent respectively) • Students in the north were less likely to use prescription opioid pain medication (7 per cent) but reported higher rates of hazardous drinking than the provincial average (19 per cent and 16 per cent respectively) • Students in the east reported higher rates of hazardous drinking than the provincial average (20 per cent and 16 per cent respectively) www.camh.ca IS SMOKINGCANNABIS & DRIVING THE NEW DRINKINGANDDRIVING? CONTINUED
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