Of the 5,255 respondents who admitted to using marijuana, 85 said they first used it when they were between 6-10 years old; 1,469, 16-20 years old; 2,526, 16-20 years old; 726, 21-25 years old; 273, 26-30 years old; 89, 31-35 years old; 50, 36-40 years old; 8, 46-50 years old; 5, 56-60 years old; and 12, 61-65 years old.
Of the 33,558 polled, 28,303 claimed they never used marijuana at all while 300 refused to participate in the survey.
Some respondents of the survey also started young in tasting their first alcoholic beverage.
The same survey revealed that 5 respondents tried an alcoholic beverage at the age of 5 or younger; 202, 6-10 years old; 2,455, 11-15 years old; and 12,222, 16-20 years old.
7,098 respondents claimed they first tried having alcohol at the age of the consent or older while 11,565 claimed they have never tried an alcoholic beverage at all.
Asked how old they first tried using heroin, crack or cocaine or methamphetamine, 8 admitted to using it from 6-10 years old; 11, 11-15 years old; and 158, 16-20 years old. 215 individuals claimed they first used the said substance at the age of 21 and over while 33,326 denied trying the substance.
Asked on the frequency of using the substances in the last 30 days since April 10, 236 claimed they had used marijuana for 30 days; 42, 25-29 days; 39, 20-24 days; 75, 15-19 days; 73, 10-14 days; 123, 5-9 days; and 709, 1-4 days. A total of 32,286 participants to the survey denied using the substance.
As for the use of prescription drugs in the last 30 days since April 10, 31 admitted to using them for the last 30 days; 85, 20-24 days; 13, 10-14 days; and 24, 1-4 days while 33,472 indicated not using these drugs.
A total of 7 respondents, however, admitted using hallucinogens for 1-4 days in the last 30 days.
In taking alcoholic beverages, 1,941 claimed doing it for 30 days; 121, 25-29 days; 355, 20-24 days; 470, 15-19 days; 844, 10-14 days; 1,782, 5-9 days; 8,177, 1-4 days and 19,924 never took an alcoholic beverage in the last 30 days since April 10.
Smoking tobacco in the last 30 days since April 10 was a habit for 930 respondents; 24, 25-29 days; 52, 15-19 days; 65, 10-14 days; 125, 5-9 days; and 237, 1-4 days.
A total of 7,074 survey participants admitted to smoking cigarette for 30 days; 245; 25-29 days; 422, 20-24 days; 276, 15-19 days; 292, 10-14 days; 458, 5-9 days, and 828, 1-4 days. Of the 33,858 total respondents, 23,996 denied using cigarettes in that period while 267 refused to take the survey.
5,721 respondents also indicated using betelnut with tobacco in the last 30 days.
Of the 51,803 total participants to the 2011 Behavioral Health Survey, 47,879 were from Saipan, 1,881 from Tinian, and 2,043 from Rota.
Broken down into ethnicities, 39.4 percent or 20,406 were Filipinos; 14,229 or 27.5 percent, Chamorros; 4,953, Micronesian; 4,831 Carolinians; 2,310
Chinese; 1,805, Koreans; 1,295, Caucasians; 851 Japanese; 210, other Pacific Islanders; and 84 others.
According to citizenship, the respondents were 32,604, U.S. citizens; 12,112, Philippine citizens; 2,629, FAS citizens; 1,595, Chinese citizens; 1,511, Korean; 661, Japanese; 659, other Asian citizens; and 32 from other countries.
There were 26,102 females and 25,701 males who participated in the survey.
The survey results released last week by the Department of Health aimed to collect cross-sectional data to produce statistical descriptions of behavioral health topics — the use and attitudes toward the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs and mental health and stigma — of the adult population in the CNMI.
The data touted to be the first of its kind in the CNMI, will be used by CGC and other health agencies in the production of the National Outcome Measures for the CNMI in the areas of behavioral health.
The survey, conducted between April 23 to July 15, 2011 sampled the CNMI adult population of 18 years old and older on Saipan, Tinian and Rota.
The survey pointed out that those adults living in company-provided housing quarters with 10 or more persons, those in jail, and those in mental institutions were excluded from the survey.
