Prescription Drug Use – 2003 Monitoring the Future Survey

Monitoring the Future (MTF) assesses the extent and perceptions of drug use among 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students nationwide. The 2003 survey showed that the lifetime, annual, and 30-day use of tranquilizers declined significantly from 2002 to 2003 for10th- and 12th-graders. This is the first year of decline for 12th-graders after a decade of gradual increase; past year use went from 7.7% in 2002 to 6.7% in 2003. For 10th-graders, it is the second year of decline for annual use, down from 7.3% in 2001 to 5.3% in 2003. In general, 8th-graders’ rates of reported tranquilizer use have been considerably lower (about 2.7% for annual use) than those observed in the upper grades.

Like tranquilizers, sedative use had shown a decade-long rise among high school seniors before leveling at 9.5% in 2002 and 8.8 percent in 2003.

Only 12th grade data are reported for abuse of narcotics other than heroin in the MTF. The annual prevalence of this class of drugs had risen considerably from 3.3% in 1992 to 7% in 2000 and 6.7% in 2001. In 2002, the survey item was changed to incorporate two new specific pain relievers, OxyContin (a controlled-release form of oxycodone that can cause severe health consequences if crushed and ingested) and Vicodin (hydrocodone), and separate items asking about use of these drugs also were introduced. Following the change in the other narcotics item, past year use was reported by 9.4% of seniors in 2002 and 9.3% in 2003.

Although not significantly higher than in 2002, annual OxyContin use was reported in 2003 by 4.5% of 12th-graders, 3.6% of 10th-graders, and 1.7% of 8th-graders. The annual prevalence rate for Vicodin was considerably higher than for OxyContin, at 10.5% in 12th-graders, 7.2% in 10th-graders, and 2.8% in 8th-graders in 2003. Considering the addictive potential of oxycodone and hydrocodone, these are disturbingly high rates of use—contrasting with an annual prevalence of less than 1% in all three grades for heroin, for instance.

The latest data are online at www.drugabuse.gov.