Survey finds alcohol use down among Ind. youths

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — An annual survey of alcohol and drug use by Indiana youths found a continued decline in those who have ever consumed alcohol while more admitted using marijuana in the past month.

The 2011 survey by Indiana University’s Indiana Prevention Resource Center reports about 65 percent of high school seniors say they’ve at least tried alcohol before. That’s down from 68 percent last year and 85 percent in 1993.

Center director Ruth Gassman says she worries that binge drinking among youths hasn’t also dropped.

Marijuana use in the past month among seniors was reported at 19.8 percent. That has gone up each year since it was at 16 percent in 2008.

Researchers questioned nearly 169,000 students in grades six through 12 at public and private schools for the survey.