Meth Use Begins Before Age 15

Most teens who try methamphetamine say they started when they were age 15 or younger. Nearly a quarter of teens say that it would be "very easy" or "somewhat easy" to obtain meth. One in three teens believes there is only a "slight risk" or "no risk" in trying meth once or twice.

These national results were published yesterday by the Meth Project, a nonprofit organization based in California. They received wide coverage in national news outlets yesterday and today.

However, even our local press failed to research usage statistics in our own community. Had they bothered to look, they would have found that the Kansas Methamphetamine Prevention Project reports meth use has declined slightly in recent years among 12th graders in Kansas. In 1999, 7.7 percent of Kansas 12th graders reported some use of meth in their lifetime. By 2006, that number dropped to 5.3 percent.