Koziel, J.

Trends in substance use among Albertan youth (2006 - 2017)
Koziel, J., Wild, C.

Information regarding substance use among various youth populations in Alberta have not been widely published nor presented to the public. As such, this presentation will showcase the lifetime and past-year prevalence of substance use (Alcohol, amphetamines, bath salts, BZP/TFMPP, cannabis, cocaine, hallucinogens, heroin, MDMA, pharmaceutical substances, salvia, and synthetic cannabinoids) among Albertan students.

Cross-sectional analysis using complex survey design was used. Data was collected for all students (Grades 7 -12) who completed Health Canada's Canadian Student Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey (CSTADS) in each cycle between 2006 and 2017. Lifetime and past-year prevalence of substance use in Alberta were calculated. Survey weights were utilized to calculate prevalence estimates in order to produce accurate population estimates. Bootstrap weights were used to calculate standard errors for each prevalence estimate in order to determine the sampling variability of each percentage. One weakness is that students who attended special schools (i.e. schools for visually-impaired and/or hearing-impaired, etc) were excluded.

Past-year and lifetime use of substances increased in the 2016 cycle as compared to the 2014 cycle however, trend analyses assessing the entire study period found no evidence that there is a decreasing or increasing trend in adolescent substance use between 2006 and 2016. Alcohol, cannabis, hallucinogens (LSD, acid, 'shrooms', etc) and synthetic cannabinoids (spice, etc) were the most frequently used substances among Albertan youth between 2006 and 2017. Male Albertan students used substances at a slightly higher prevalence than female students within the last decade. However, high school students used all substances at a substantially higher percentage than junior high students.

Despite prevalence increases for some substances in the recent CSTADS cycle, there is no evidence that there was an overall change in substance use in the last decade. Information from this presentation should inform current youth interventions.