More & more teens are abstaining from drinking, smoking, & marijuana

According to a recent AP article, about two-thirds of this year's 12th graders said they haven't used alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes, or e-cigarettes in the past 30 days. That's the largest proportion abstaining since the annual survey started measuring abstinence in 2017.

Clay County's recent data on this topic is even more encouraging. According to the Kansas Communities that Care 2025 data, Clay County students in grades 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th grades gave answers to using the following questions regarding substance use in the past 30 days:

Alcohol - 6.3%

Vaping - 4.9%

Binge Drinking - 4.0%

Marijana - 2.6%

Cigarettes - 0.8%

Smokeless Tobacco - 0.9%

Although most of these percentages are slightly higher than the previous year, it is still overall positive data and is lower than the state and national data.

The KCTC survey is given annually to Clay County students, as well as students across the state of Kansas.