A new federal report ranks Iowa as having the nation’s second-lowest overall rate of current illicit drug use, and the lowest rate of illicit drug use among middle school- and high school-age youths.

 

However, both tobacco use and binge drinking by Iowa teens exceeded the national average, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health 2013-2014 state estimates report, released earlier this month.

 

The rate of past month illicit drug use among Iowans 12 years of age and older is 6.27 percent. That’s an improvement from 7.34 percent the year before, substantially below the national average of 9.77 percent and trailing only South Dakota (5.82 percent).

 

In the 12- to 17-year-old category, Iowa has the lowest rate of illicit drug use (6.31 percent versus 9.11 percent nationally). Among other findings, the report ranks Iowa above the national average in youth tobacco use among 12- to 17-year-olds (9.41 percent in Iowa versus 7.42 nationally) and binge drinking among the same age group (6.4 percent in Iowa versus 6.16 percent nationally).