Local students also exceeded their national peers in the percent of students who reported having 5 or more alcoholic drinks in the two weeks before the study. Nearly identical percentages of local and national students reported smoking a half pack or more of cigarettes per day. The data highlight the importance of parents taking an active role in preventing drug abuse by their children. The DADS data also show the vast majority of teenage drug abuse happens at someone's home. Parent's need to understand that that home is often their own home.
Students respond anonymously and on a voluntary basis.
DADS is administered through participating school districts. Any school district in the Miami Valley area may participate at no charge and may choose which levels they want to survey between grades 7 and 12. DADS began as an annual survey in 1990 and has been conducted biennially since 1994. It is a cross-sectional study that provides estimates of youth drug use at one point in time. The same schools have not participated in the study over the years, a consideration when making general comparisons.