There’s good news about teen drug use in DuPage County.
Rates of substance use are down compared to 10 years ago across all categories measured in the Illinois Youth Survey, meaning fewer students in 2024 than in 2014 said they had recently used alcohol, marijuana, tobacco, or prescription drugs.
A countywide group that works to prevent substance misuse among teens is celebrating this positive trend as it marks a decade focused on prevention.
Decade of drug use prevention
An art exhibit temporarily posted at College of DuPage illustrates the work of the DuPage County Prevention Leadership Team the past 10 years to decrease teen substance misuse.
The DuPage County Prevention Leadership Team first received grant funding in 2014 and works specifically on the issue of substance misuse among youth. The group formed after a DuPage County Health Department survey in 2011 identified youth drug use, overdose deaths, and related issues as a major concern.
“Over the last decade, the Prevention Leadership Team has become a unique and effective tool for prevention in DuPage County,” said Jennifer Hess, the group’s co-chair for the past four years, who works as supervisor of DuPage juvenile probation.
The team, known as PLT, combines prevention specialists and treatment providers with educators, nonprofits, police, parents, and community leaders. All involved work toward putting in place the best practices, services, and norms proven to help prevent substance misuse.
‘Positive change’ in youth use
To see a downward trend during the past decade in youth drug use — despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the stressors it caused in teens’ lives — is a major win, prevention leaders say.
“It is encouraging to see the positive change among our youth and families in DuPage County,” said Saba Haider, a member of the DuPage County Health Department Board of Health.
Illinois Youth Survey data show 22% of 12th-grade students in DuPage County this year reported using alcohol within the past 30 days, down from 45% of students who self-reported drinking in 2014. Marijuana use rates dropped to 10% of students this year, down from 24% a decade ago, while use rates of any tobacco product fell to 10% in 2024 from 20% in 2014.
A decade ago, 5% of 12th-graders said in the survey that they recently had misused prescription drugs. In this year’s survey, that percentage fell to zero.
Results prove ‘prevention works’
These results show the collaborative efforts of the PLT are working, said General Barrye L. Price, president and CEO of CADCA, which stands for Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America. Price attended a gathering celebrating 10 years of prevention Oct. 24 at College of DuPage with roughly 150 PLT members and supporters. He said the coalition’s work here is helping inform drug prevention policy at the federal level.
“With a decade of experience behind you, here’s what we know today: Prevention works. It saves lives. It strengthens communities,” Price said. “Prevention is not just a strategy. It’s a mindset, empowering people to make better decisions.”
Campaigning for healthy choices
The Prevention Leadership Team has influenced positive changes in drug use by collaborating with 119 partners and running major media campaigns to change perceptions, Hess said. The DuPage County Health Department’s Jordan Esser, project coordinator, and Mila Tsagalis, project director, run the team along with two volunteer co-chairs. They use ad campaigns, events, advocacy among local governments, a web presence and social media to reach the teens and parents who most need to hear their prevention message.
Ad campaigns have garnered a total of 28 million views, pushing messages designed to discourage buying alcohol for anyone underage (“If they can’t buy it, don’t supply it!”) or to encourage open conversations with teens about avoiding substances (“Talk. They hear you.”).
The PLT has hosted 466 events and trainings, including panel discussions about the effects of recreational marijuana and community mental health forums. The group has encouraged communities to adopt local Tobacco 21 policies and ordinances with consequences for “social hosting” of events with underage substance use. The PLT also established the Crisis Text Line for DuPage County, accessible by texting REACH to 741741.
It all adds up to the decreases in substance use seen in this year’s Illinois Youth Survey data, leaders say, and the Prevention Leadership Team is not stopping its work there.
Expanding mission to mental wellness for all
The group, in fact, is expanding its focus to also include the adult population, encompassing recovery services and mental health initiatives.
The coalition’s updated vision calls for DuPage County to become a “healthy, prevention-focused community, where all residents have access to mental wellness and substance misuse services.” The PLT plans to make that vision a reality by collaborating to “assess, educate, fund and advocate for best practices that promote mental wellness and prevent substance misuse.”
Coalition members recognize the connection between mental health and substance use, saying they know efforts to decrease youth substance misuse can’t succeed without also promoting mental wellness.
So, what’s next, as the county’s prevention coalition expands its focus? Price, visiting from Washington, D.C., said, “The answer is simple. Keep going.”
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