Drug use may be down, but incidents of stress may be causing more cases of mental illness in Utah's teen population.
Utah ranks low among the states in the number of young adults who use drugs, alcohol and tobacco. But it has one of the highest rankings for serious mental illness, says a new survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
"We are below the national average in everything except one, and that is inhalants," said B.J. Van Roosendaal, spokeswoman for the state Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health.
She said young people are probably drawn to inhalants because they are comparatively easy to obtain and they hear about the possible "high" from peers.
Van Roosendaal said marijuana and alcohol are among the attractive drug choices for youth in Utah.
The report, "State Estimates of Substance Use from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health," estimates each state's rate of use of illegal drugs, binge drinking, serious mental illness and tobacco use in populations age 12 and older. The numbers are based on 68,126 home interviews conducted throughout the country.
The use of illegal drugs by those age 12 and older nationwide ranged from 6.1 percent in Iowa to 12.4 percent in the District of Columbia.
Utah was ranked in the lowest fifth for current use of marijuana at 4.6 percent; the lowest was Alabama with 4.4 percent. Other states ranking low in marijuana use included Georgia, Iowa, Mississippi, New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.
"Drug abuse is less accepted in Utah," said Randy Bachman, director of the Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health.
He said that low tolerance leads to lower levels of drug use among youth.
Utah reported the lowest rate in the country for teens involved with alcohol binge drinking at 16.6 percent. North Dakota had the highest rate, 30 percent. Binge alcohol use is defined as consuming five or more drinks in one sitting.
"Bingeing is overdoing it with alcohol," Bachman said. "People who are just starting to use tend to overdo it."
He said such use puts the public at risk.
"Even someone under the legal limit would be at risk in some situations of driving," Van Roosendaal added.
She said other risky activities, such as fighting with peers and unprotected sex, can result from excessive alcohol use.
Utah also ranked lowest in the nation for the number of teenagers using some form of tobacco other than cigarettes. The survey reports that nationally, 30 percent of American teenagers, or 71.8 million, use tobacco products regularly. Arkansas ranked highest in the nation, reporting 39.9 percent of its teens use tobacco products.
Bachman credits the numerous prevention programs for the decrease in the number of youths using marijuana.
"I think kids are getting the message that it's not cool to use marijuana," he said.
Kentucky had the highest rate of cigarette use in the nation at 33.8 percent and Utah had the lowest at 18.9 percent.
"Even though Utah has a low rate of alcohol and tobacco use, we're still in the middle for illicit drug use," Bachman said.
Methamphetamines, he said, are known as the "Jenny Crank" syndrome on the streets and have become a big problem for women. Utah ranks fourth in the nation for women using illicit drugs, eighth for men.
The survey also estimates 8.3 percent of Americans age 18 and older were diagnosed with a serious mental illness in the past year. Those illnesses are defined as a mental, behavioral or emotional disorder that results in an impairment of a major life activity such as walking or speaking.
Western states, including Idaho, Montana, Utah and Washington, reported high rates of severe mental illnesses — 9.8 to 11.35 percent of the population. Oklahoma reported the highest percentage nationally with 11.4 percent. Utah was close behind at 10.52 percent, ranking fourth in the nation.
"In Utah, our suicide rate is high," Van Roosendaal said. "There is a certain level of stress on our student population to be really perfect. A lot of students are struggling with that."
In connection with mental illness, she said prescription drug abuse is relatively high in Utah. She said people here don't turn to alcohol to "self medicate" and thus turn to prescription antidepressants and various mood enhancers, sometimes overdoing it.
"The good news is that overall, we have a lower incidence and prevalence of alcohol and tobacco use among secondary schoolchildren, and that in the past 20 years, we've seen a reduction in drug and alcohol abuse," Bachman said. "On the other hand, we do have a meth problem with women . . . and specifically, we are seeing more that are referred to treatment are referred by the criminal justice system."
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