Nearly a quarter of 11th graders surveyed in Deschutes County have used alcohol at least once in a 30-day period, according to a health survey.

Slightly more than 12% of the 977 Deschutes County 11th graders who responded to the survey from September 2022 to January 2023 said they had their first alcoholic beverage by age 15, but more than 40% said they had never tried alcohol except for a few sips, according to the Oregon Student Health Survey. By comparison, 9.4% of the 11th graders statewide said they had their first sip of alcohol when they were 15 years old, according to the survey.

More than half the 11th graders said they had never tried cannabis, and 9% said they were 15 when they did, according to the survey.

Yet, 14.5% of the 11th graders surveyed said they used a vape product or other e-cigarette product in the past month.

Statewide, 6.3% of the 11th graders surveyed said they tried cannabis for the first time by age 15 and 67.4% said they never tired marijuana, according to the survey.

The results of the survey of Deschutes County students was recently presented to the Deschutes County Commission in a detailed presentation about the use of cannabis. In 2021, according to the presentation, 65.2 million Americans age 12 and older used cannabis in the preceding month. But in 2015, only 8.9% of Americans age 12 and older used cannabis, according to the Deschutes County Health Services presentation.

Cannabis use while the brain is still developing poses a risk of psychosis and schizophrenia, according to the presentation. It also has been shown that if used frequently between the ages of 14 and 21, can affect high school graduation rates, according to the presentation.

In Oregon the legal age of cannabis and alcohol use is 21.

“I have seen the data presented multiple times and have been concerned about youth cannabis use for a long time,” said Phil Chang, Deschutes County commissioner. “The county has been responding to this concerning trend by investing in prevention programs like Healthy Schools Partnership and in black market cannabis interdiction efforts like the Deschutes County Illegal Marijuana Market Enforcement team.”

Parents should talk to their children, set rules and expectations, be positive role models, stay informed and connect with other parents, according to the presentation.

Bend-La Pine Schools is taking a multipronged approach to educating students about drug and alcohol use, said Scott Maben, school district spokesman.

It’s a priority of the Healthy Schools program that’s been in place for three years, Maben said.

“We use a multifaceted approach: health class instruction at the secondary level that includes substance use prevention and strategies such as UpShift and Sources of Strength,” Maben said of the programs coordinated with county health officials to reduce out of school suspensions.

Every two years the state asks students in sixth, eighth and 11th grade to answer a series of open-ended questions pertaining to their school district to address equity, safety and the challenges students face. In 2022, more than 45,000 students participated statewide.