Definition: Percentage of Sarasota County youth, ages 11-18, that reported having used alcohol or any other illicit drug in the past 30 days, according the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS). FYSAS is administered to a sample of Florida's middle and high school students every spring.

Source: Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey

2025 Target: 32.13%

Below is a comparison of the value for this indicator among seven coastal counties: Charlotte, Sarasota, Collier, Lee, Manatee, Hillsborough, and Pinellas. These counties have been recommended as comparable counties by Sarasota County Government.

Percentage of Youth that Used Alcohol or Any Other Illicit Drug in the Past 30 Days (2016)

In 2016, 25% of Sarasota County youth reported having used alcohol or any other illicit drug in the past 30 days. From 2006 to 2016 there has been a 49% decrease in the rate of reported recent alcohol and drug use, making 2016 the year with the lowest reported rate since 2000. Alcohol and drug use among youth in Sarasota County has been consistently higher than in the state (though this gap is closing) with a difference of .7% in 2016. Some factors that may contribute to the high rate of youth substance abuse in Sarasota County are the availability of drugs at school, lack of alternative extracurricular activities, and lack of parental supervision.

According for the Center for Disease Control, addiction typically begins in childhood or adolescence. Children’s earliest interactions within the family are crucial to their healthy development and risk for drug abuse. There is also a very strong correlation between childhood trauma and substance abuse, as well as other mental illnesses. In the National Survey of Adolescents, teens who experienced sexual abuse/assault were three times more likely to report past or current substance abuse than those without a history of trauma. In surveys of adolescents receiving treatment for substance abuse, more than 70% of patients had a history of trauma exposure.