Idaho budget cuts eliminate survey used for drug prevention programs

(The Spokesman-Review) Idaho has made much of a startling statistic – that teen meth use in the state dropped 52 percent from 2007 to 2009. It’s the largest percentage drop of any state and coincided with the Idaho Meth Project ramping up its graphic anti-meth TV ads and billboards.

But that 52 percent figure was boosted by a small increase from 2005 to 2007; 11 states actually saw greater declines from 2005 to 2009, according to the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey.

A separate, similar survey of teen meth use in Idaho – with a much larger sample size – shows smaller, steadier drops, similar to drops seen for the past decade nationwide.

That survey, the Idaho School Climate Survey, has been conducted every other year since 1996. It would have been administered to 15,000-plus Idaho teens again next month – except that state budget cuts have eliminated funding that covered its $57,000 cost.

School districts, state agencies and nonprofits across the state use the school climate survey data to win grants for various prevention programs.