Highlights of the 2005 Statewide PAYS

• Pennsylvania students in 6th, 8th, and 10th grades are drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes and using drugs far less frequently then they did in past years, but 12th grade students are binge drinking, driving under the influence, smoking, and using drugs more than they did in the past and more than their peers nationwide.
• Alcohol is the substance most often used by students in all surveyed grade levels with 58% of all students surveyed admitting to drinking alcohol at some point in their lives.
• Binge Drinking (consuming five or more drinks in a row) tends to become more pervasive as students grow older – 1% of 6th graders, 6.7% of 8th graders, 19.6% of 10th graders, and 33% of 12th graders admitted to binge drinking.
• Almost 24% of 12th graders admitted to driving after drinking, which is an increase from previous years. Twenty-three percent of the students admit to driving after smoking marijuana.
• More than 5% of high school seniors used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes.
• Overall, 36% of students have gambled for money.
• Approximately 34% of students said they were depressed or sad most days, and 24% said they sometimes feel "life is not worth it." Forty-one percent of those with high symptoms of depression reported alcohol use in the preceding month, compared to 19 percent for those with low symptoms of depression.

 

Additional 2005 State PAYS Statistics

http://www.pccd.state.pa.us/pccd/cwp/view.asp?a=1390&q=576103

 

Access the Full 2005 State PAYS Report

To view the full 130-page report or information sheets of the summarized state results, visit the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s website at: www.pccd.state.pa.us