For American Indian youth, risk is higher for alcohol, drug use, say researchers

Since 1975, Colorado State University social scientists have studied rates of drug and alcohol use among American Indian youths living on or near reservations. Their latest published results underscore a trend that has persisted over many decades: Native adolescents are more likely to use alcohol and illicit drugs than non-Native adolescents in the United States.

The researchers are from the CSU Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research, part of the Department of Psychology in the College of Natural Sciences. A study published in the open-access journal JAMA Network Open, authored by center director and Senior Research Scientist Randall Swaim and Senior Research Scientist Linda Stanley, reported results from a 2016-17 survey. The survey was…