Canadian Teens Are Drinking, Smoking, and Doing Less Drugs Than Ever

Canadian high school students are over weed.

According to a recently released study, rates of smoking up amongst youth in grades 9 and 10 are at their lowest in the last 20 years with 23 percent of boys and girls reporting they'd tried it in 2014.

The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children survey, conducted last year by the World Health Organization and the Public Health Agency of Canada, found cannabis use amongst teens peaked in 2002, when 50 percent of boys and 40 percent of girls reported trying it.

The study also asked the kids about drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, and getting high off on other drugs.

Almost a third of boys (28 percent) and girls (27 percent) in Grade 10 said they'd been "really drunk" at least twice in their lives. Those numbers were 41 and 39 percent, respectively, in 2010. More than a third of Grade 10 students said they consumed alcohol monthly. Beer is most common amongst boys, while girls are equally down with liquor, coolers, and beer.

About 22 percent of Grade 10 students say they binge drink, meaning consume more than four drinks (five for boys) once a month or more.

Very few of the kids surveyed said they'd tried harder drugs, including ecstasy, cocaine, heroin, meth, speed, acid, and prescription meds. The most popular choice was cough medicine, with 9 percent of boys and 12 percent of girls in Grade 10 reporting having tried it in a 12-month period.

Only 4 percent of Grade 10 students reported smoking tobacco daily. In 1998, the rate was 21 percent for girls and 15 percent for boys.

The survey was given to 29,784 kids in Grade 6-10 from 377 schools across the country, though only the older kids were asked about drug use.

Findings demonstrated that a strong support system from family and friends resulted in positive health outcomes for the kids.

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