FRIENDS FACTOR IN EARLY ALCOHOL, DRUG USE

First Marijuana Use Found at Age 13.1 Years

Cigarette Use Among Teens Down, Study Finds

Friends play the biggest role in determining whether adolescents will experiment with drugs and alcohol, according to a new study.

Youth, between the ages of 12 and 15, who reported that all or most of their friends had used alcohol, were nearly 11 times more likely to have been drunk in the past year than those with fewer friends who drink, Statistics Canada reported yesterday.

And their odds of using drugs were 33 times as high if their friends used them.

Over-all, 22 per cent of the adolescents surveyed said they had been intoxicated at least once and 19 per cent had tried marijuana.

The analysis is based on responses from 4,296 adolescents, their parents and their teachers.

Reports of alcohol use rose steadily as they got older and almost half the 15 year olds said they had been drunk at least once.

Peers played a bigger role in their drug and alcohol use than whether their parents were problem drinkers, said the study, Statistics Canada's first look at alcohol and drug use in teens.

Of those who did drink, the average age when they had their first drink was 12.4 years and the age when they got drunk for the first time was 13.2.

For those who used drugs, glue sniffing began at age 11.3 and marijuana use at age 13.1.

But it's not possible to determine whether their friends are influencing them or whether "birds of a feather flock together," meaning that young teens seek friends who share similar attitudes, the study said.

The findings are similar to those found in the annual Ontario Drug Use Survey, said Ed Adlaf, a research scientist with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Alcohol and marijuana use have been fairly stable, he said.

But cigarette smoking is declining as well as the use of LSD and ecstasy, he added.

The Statistics Canada study found that teens who were doing poorly in school were more than twice as likely to have got drunk in the past year and those from families with a step-parent were twice as likely to use drugs than those from two-parent families.

Although boys were more likely to report having a drink, the percentage of girls who got drunk and used drugs other than marijuana was slightly higher.