Just one indication that a student is using alcohol or other drugs despite problems will cause the student to be classified as a substance abuser. One reported instance of using a substance while driving, or in similarly dangerous situations, will also classify a student as a substance abuser. Using these criteria, four out of ten Wyoming high school students can be considered drug abusers. This figure seems alarming, but should be interpreted with care. The DSM-IV criteria for this diagnosis were created with adults in mind, and perhaps are a bit stringent for adolescents.
Adolescence is a developmental stage that is usually characterized by some risk-taking behavior.
Most adolescents, however, move past these risk-taking behaviors, and become relatively normal adults. Many of the students who are identified as drug abusers probably do not need full scale treatment, but do need better intervention efforts to help them bring their behavior back from the edge. Data from the survey will help Wyoming policy makers, service providers and other government and private agencies better address the need for addiction treatment and programs that prevent youth from becoming involved with addictive substances within Wyoming communities. The State of Wyoming has responded appropriately to the problem identified by this survey effort and other information gathering efforts by creating a statewide methamphetamine initiative and starting a statewide prevention program. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has funded a project to evaluate the effectiveness of use of the Community Readiness Model in communities statewide to develop and guide local prevention efforts.