More Okanagan youth smoke, drink and have sex than rest of B.C.

Photo: Contributed

More young people in the Okanagan drink alcohol, use cannabis, vape and have sex than those across the rest of the province, according to a recently published survey.

The survey of more than 38,000 young people between the ages of 12 and 19 in 2018 was recently published by the McCreary Centre Society. The BC Adolescent Health Survey has been conducted every five years since 1992.

The survey covers a wide range of topics, and shows some major differences between youth in the six Okanagan school districts, from the U.S border north to the Shuswap, when compared to the provincial averages.

In the Okanagan, 54 per cent of those surveyed said they had tried alcohol, 10 per cent more than the provincial average. The most common age reported for teens to start drinking was 14, and 45 per cent of those who had drunk said they got the alcohol from an adult. A more industrious one per cent of those surveyed said they actually made the booze themselves.

Following the alcohol trend, 24 per cent of Okanagan youth said they've smoked cigarettes, six per cent higher than the province's average, while 29 per cent of local kids said they've used vaporizers containing nicotine, compared to the 21 per cent provincial average.

The survey, conducted one month before federal cannabis legalization, found cannabis use amongst local youth was also seven per cent higher than the average, at 32 per cent.

While alcohol and tobacco use all declined in the Okanagan since 2008, cannabis use remained stable over the ten years. Use of other drugs, including pills, mushrooms and other hallucinogens, MDMA and cocaine all decreased since 2008 as well, some by as much as half.

When it comes to sex, 24 per cent of those surveyed in the Okanagan reported having it, four per cent more than the rest of the province. Compared with 2008, the rate of youth in the Okanagan using only the “withdrawal method” to prevent pregnancy more than doubled, to nine per cent.

Okanagan students were also more likely to have worked a job during the school year, at 41 per cent compared to just 33 per cent around the province.

Reported high overall mental health of Okanagan students dropped by 10 per cent over a five-year period, with 70 per cent rating their mental health as good or excellent in 2018. This figure is similar to the provincial average of 73 per cent.

“At a time when more Okanagan youth are reporting conditions such as anxiety disorder, depression and PTSD, it is concerning that one in five did not get mental health care that they felt they needed,” said Annie Smith, executive director of the McCreary Centre Society.

“It is particularly worrying that for 62 per cent of the youth who missed out on care, a primary reason was not wanting their parents to know.”