Lake 88 Exclusive: Preview of Planet Youth Lanark County teen substance use survey

Planet Youth Lanark County is a volunteer group working with area health-care and community stakeholders to adopt a model for tackling youth substance use that was first pioneered in Iceland in the 1990s and since copied around the world with substantial success.

As part of the process, grade 10 students in both school boards in the County recently completed an in-depth survey covering a wide variety of aspects of school, social and family life as well as substance use.

Some results indicate that a third of these students had tried alcohol before the age of 13 and 12% admitted being drunk in the last 30 days.

Almost 30% of alcohol users say they got it from their family, with or without their permission.

Other results show that 89% of parents disapproved of cannabis use and 75% felt the same about drunkenness.

Only 57% of teens report spending time with parents, an activity that other countries participating in this model report is a strong protective factor in reducing youth substance use.

Planet Youth Lanark County will have the complete survey results available soon on their website at www.planetyouthlanark.ca. You can visit the site by tapping or clicking this text block.

Story by Brian Turner