LiveFree! in partnership with the Pinellas Juvenile Assessment Center(PJAC) and the Juvenile Addiction Receiving Facility (JARF) have been implementing a Last Use Survey asking youth alcohol and prescription drug related questions. The survey began in September 2008 as an effort to better understand youth alcohol use and juvenile crime correlations. The survey tool has been expanded over the years to include additional alcohol related questions and questions pertaining to prescription drug misuse and abuse.  For a full report of the Last Use Survey, please contact the LiveFree! Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition.  Highlights of the report are detailed below.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Inconsistencies in the number of youth who responded to questions are due to survey changes. Above each table you will see the N (number of youth who were asked the questions) and the amount of youth who were not asked the questions if it was not included in the version given below:

Over 6,000 youth have been surveyed since September 2008.

• Similar to the 2012 FYSAS, most youth obtained alcohol or drugs from their friend’s house, a party or their own house.

For those youth reporting prescription drug use, the majority of them obtained these drugs from a friend.

• From 2009 to 2012, the mean age of first use of alcohol for those in treatment at the JARF decreased from 13.8 years to 12.8 years old
• From 2009 to 2012, the mean age of first use of marijuana for those in treatment at the JARF decreased from 13.6 years to 12.8 years old
• From 2009 to 2012, the mean age of first use of prescription drugs for those in treatment at the JARF decreased from 15.2 years to 14.0 years old
• For synthetic marijuana, the mean age of youth at the JARF and the JAC is 14.8 years old.

For youth at both the JARF and the JAC in 2012, approximately 30% believe that prescription drugs are safer than street drugs.

• The most used prescription drug are benzodiazepines.

SOURCE: LiveFree! Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition of Pinellas County, the Pinellas Juvenile Assessment Center, and the Juvenile Addiction Receiving Facility