Teen Alcohol & Drug Abuse
TEEN DRUG ADDICTION AND ALCOHOL ABUSE INFORMATION
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If you’re a teen or adolescent living with addiction, or your child is abusing drugs, seek expert help from a drug and alcohol treatment facility. The cost of care depends on various factors such as the location of the treatment center, the environment and ammenities, length of care, and addiction being treated. Ask the facilities you research whether or not they accept insurance, offer payment plans, or otherwise help make quality care affordable before making your decision. You can find additional information about teen drug and alcohol rehab centers here.
Monitoring the Future Study: Trends in Prevalence of Various Drugs for 8th-Graders, 10th-Graders, and 12th-Graders
2006-2009 (in percent)*
| 8th-Graders | 10th-Graders | 12th-Graders | ||||||||||
| 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | |
| Any Illicit Drug Use | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lifetime
Past Year Past Month |
20.9 14.8 8.1 |
[19.0]
[13.2] 7.4 |
19.6 14.1 7.6 |
19.9 14.5 8.1 |
36.1 28.7 16.8 |
35.6
28.1 16.9 |
34.1
26.9 15.8 |
36.0 29.4 17.8 |
48.2
36.5 21.5 |
46.8 35.9 21.9 |
47.4
36.6 22.3 |
46.7 36.5 23.3 |
| Marijuana/Hashish | ||||||||||||
| Lifetime
Past Year Past Month Daily |
15.7
11.7 6.5 1.0 |
14.2
[10.3] 5.7 0.8 |
14.6
10.9 5.8 0.9 |
15.7
11.8 6.5 1.0 |
31.8
25.2 14.2 2.8 |
31.0
24.6 14.2 2.8 |
29.9
23.9 13.8 2.7 |
32.3
26.7 15.9 2.8 |
42.3
31.5 18.3 5.0 |
41.8
31.7 18.8 5.1 |
42.6
32.4 19.4 5.4 |
42.0
32.8 20.6 5.2 |
| Inhalants | ||||||||||||
| Lifetime
Past Year Past Month |
16.1
9.1 4.1 |
15.6 8.3 3.9 |
15.7 8.9 4.1 |
14.9
8.1 3.8 |
13.3
6.5 2.3 |
13.6
6.6 2.5 |
12.8 5.9 2.1 |
12.3
6.1 [2.2] |
11.1
4.5 1.5 |
10.5 3.7 1.2 |
9.9
3.8 1.4 |
9.5 3.4 1.2 |
| Hallucinogens | ||||||||||||
| Lifetime Past Year Past Month |
3.4
2.1 0.9 |
3.1
1.9 1.0 |
3.3 2.1 0.9 |
3.0 1.9 0.9 |
6.1
4.1 1.5 |
6.4 4.4 1.7 |
5.5
3.9 1.3 |
6.1 4.1 1.4 |
8.3
4.9 1.5 |
8.4
5.4 1.7 |
8.7
5.9 [2.2] |
7.4 [4.7] [1.6] |
| LSD | ||||||||||||
| Lifetime
Past Year Past Month |
1.6
0.9 0.4 |
1.6
1.1 0.5 |
1.9
1.3 0.5 |
1.7 1.1 0.5 |
2.7
1.7 0.7 |
3.0
1.9 0.7 |
2.6
1.8 0.7 |
3.0 1.9 0.5 |
3.3 1.7 0.6 |
3.4
2.1 0.6 |
4.0
2.7 [1.1] |
3.1
[1.9] [0.5] |
| Cocaine | ||||||||||||
| Lifetime Past Year Past Month |
3.4
2.0 1.0 |
3.1 2.0 0.9 |
3.0
1.8 0.8 |
2.6
1.6 0.8 |
4.8
3.2 1.5 |
5.3
3.4 1.3 |
4.5
3.0 1.2 |
4.6
2.7 [0.9] |
8.5 5.7 2.5 |
7.8
5.2 [2.0] |
7.2 4.4 1.9 |
[6.0]
[3.4] [1.3] |
| Crack Cocaine | ||||||||||||
| Lifetime Past Year Past Month |
2.3
1.3 0.6 |
2.1 1.3 0.6 |
2.0
1.1 0.5 |
1.7
1.1 0.5 |
2.2
1.3 0.7 |
2.3 1.3 [0.5] |
2.0 1.3 0.5 |
2.1
1.2 0.4 |
3.5
2.1 0.9 |
3.2
1.9 0.9 |
2.8 [1.6] 0.8 |
2.4
1.3 0.6 |
| Heroin | ||||||||||||
| Lifetime
Past Year Past Month |
1.4 0.8 0.3 |
1.3 0.8 0.4 |
1.4 0.9 0.4 |
1.3 0.7 0.4 |
1.4
0.9 0.5 |
1.5 0.8 0.4 |
[1.2]
0.8 0.4 |
[1.5] 0.9 0.4 |
1.4 0.8 0.4 |
1.5
0.9 0.4 |
1.3
0.7 0.4 |
1.2
0.7 0.4 |
| Tranquilizers | ||||||||||||
| Lifetime Past Year Past Month |
4.3 2.6 1.3 |
3.9
2.4 1.1 |
3.9
2.4 1.2 |
3.9
2.6 1.2 |
7.2
5.2 2.4 |
7.4 5.3 2.6 |
6.8
4.6 [1.9] |
7.0 5.0 2.0 |
10.3
6.6 2.7 |
9.5
6.2 2.6 |
8.9
6.2 2.6 |
9.3
6.3 2.7 |
| Alcohol | ||||||||||||
| Lifetime
Past Year Past Month Daily |
40.5 33.6 17.2 0.5 |
38.9 31.8 15.9 0.6 |
38.9 32.1 15.9 0.7 |
[36.6] 30.3 14.9 [0.5] |
61.5
55.8 33.8 1.4 |
61.7
56.3 33.4 1.4 |
[58.3]
[52.5] [28.8] [1.0] |
59.1
52.8 30.4 1.1 |
72.7
66.5 45.3 3.0 |
72.2
66.4 44.4 3.1 |
71.9
65.5 43.1 2.8 |
72.3
66.2 43.5 2.5 |
| Cigarettes (any use) | ||||||||||||
| Lifetime
Past Month Daily 1/2-pack+/day |
24.6
8.7 4.0 1.5 |
[22.1]
[7.1] [3.0] 1.1 |
20.5
6.8 3.1 1.2 |
20.1
6.5 2.7 1.0 |
36.1
14.5 7.6 3.3 |
34.6
14.0 7.2 2.7 |
[31.7]
[12.3] [5.9] [2.0] |
32.7
13.1 6.3 2.4 |
47.1
21.6 12.2 5.9 |
46.2
21.6 12.3 5.7 |
44.7
20.4 11.4 5.4 |
43.6
20.1 11.2 5.0 |
| Smokeless Tobacco | ||||||||||||
| Lifetime Past Month Daily |
10.2
3.7 0.7 |
9.1
3.2 0.8 |
9.8
3.5 0.8 |
9.6
3.7 0.8 |
15.0 5.7 1.7 |
15.1
6.1 1.6 |
[12.2] 5.0 1.4 |
[15.2]
[6.5] [1.9] |
15.2
6.1 2.2 |
15.1 6.6 2.8 |
15.6
6.5 2.7 |
16.3
8.4 2.9 |
| Steroids | ||||||||||||
| Lifetime
Past Year Past Month |
1.6 0.9 0.5 |
1.5 0.8 0.4 |
1.4
0.9 0.5 |
1.3
0.8 0.4 |
1.8
1.2 0.6 |
1.8 1.1 0.5 |
1.4 0.9 0.5 |
1.3 0.8 0.5 |
2.7
1.8 1.1 |
2.2
1.4 1.0 |
2.2 1.5 1.0 |
2.2
1.5 1.0 |
| MDMA | ||||||||||||
| Lifetime Past Year Past Month |
2.5 1.4 0.7 |
2.3 1.5 0.6 |
2.4
1.7 0.8 |
2.2
1.3 0.6 |
4.5
2.8 1.2 |
5.2 3.5 1.2 |
4.3
2.9 1.1 |
5.5 3.7 1.3 |
6.5
4.1 1.3 |
6.5
4.5 1.6 |
6.2 4.3 1.8 |
6.5 4.3 1.8 |
| Methamphetamine | ||||||||||||
| Lifetime Past Year Past Month |
2.7
1.8 0.6 |
[1.8] [1.1] 0.6 |
2.3
1.2 0.7 |
[1.6]
1.0 0.5 |
3.2 1.8 0.7 |
2.8 1.6 0.4 |
2.4
1.5 [0.7] |
2.8
1.6 0.6 |
4.4
2.5 0.9 |
[3.0] [1.7] 0.6 |
2.8 1.2 0.6 |
2.4
1.2 0.5 |
| Vicodin | ||||||||||||
| Past Year | 3.0 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 2.5 | 7.0 | 7.2 | 6.7 | 8.1 | 9.7 | 9.6 | 9.7 | 9.7 |
| OxyContin | ||||||||||||
| Past Year
|
2.6 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 5.1 | 4.3 | 5.2 | 4.7 | 4.9 |
| Cough Medicine (non-prescription)* | ||||||||||||
| Past Year | 4.2 | 4.0 | 3.6 | 3.8 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 5.3 | 6.0 | 6.9 | 5.8 | 5.5 | 5.9 |
You’ll hear everything there is to hear about alcohol, ecstacy,
speed (meth, crystal), coke, heroin, inhalents, smoking….
So, like, what’s the REAL story about drugs and alcohol? (And
alcohol is definitely a drug, too…just like nicotine is!)
Here, you can learn straight facts about what each drug does, what
it doesn’t do, and the danger of each…and often, there is real danger….
People do drugs and drink, because, to start, it makes them feel
good… or erases feelings…but that’s only the beginning…. ALL drugs
change the chemicals we have naturally in our brains…and when the brain starts changing, adding to, subtracting from its own chemicals, that’s a problem — because those chemicals control our feelings and actions.
Can some people deal with alcohol and other drugs better than others?
You bet!
How about me?
Well, that depends on your genes, chemical make-up, and psychological make-up….not what you think you can handle! And the way alcohol and other drugs start out is NEVER the way they end up! Never!
Who is likely to know first if you’re in trouble?
Everyone else but you!
Is doing a few joints or a few beers ok?
If you’re driving or in another situation requiring concentration, or if you’re pregnant or you want to be sure to have safe sex or not have sex-IT’S NEVER OK!
On the weekend?
Most people-more so young people-start doing drugs or drinking alcohol on the weekend, but they do NOT stay there!
How about mixing drugs-legal prescription ones or illegal ones-with alcohol?
ALWAYS very dangerous!
Can other people’s alcohol use or other drug use affect me?
ALMOST always. If you’re close to a friend, parent, brother, or sister who has a drug problem, it will affect you in ways you may not easily realize…and then you can get the same symptoms and problems…even if you don’t do drugs or drink at all.
Will drugs/alcohol help me chill?
Yes, for awhile…but the way the chemicals we all have in our brains work, you’ll need more to get the same feelings of relaxation over time… then still more…and the problems won’t disappear…they’ll get worse because you’re avoiding them!
How about inhalents?
DEADLY…always. They destroy brain cells and worse! We’re not talking just addiction
here…but coma, even death!
Will I get addicted or can I handle it?
Again, you’re going to be the last to know…it depends on your genes, it depends on your family life, it just depends…and the best we can say is that doing drugs is a gamble…a big gamble.
What about addiction vs. ‘just using?’
A high percentage of users get addicted…or at least over-use. And because the brain
eventually needs more to get the same effect, often– use increases…and so do the
problems….
Anything else you can decide for yourself by reading some GOOD info, from all kinds of sources we’ve gathered below.
And we’ll keep adding more good links. Knowing how each drug/alcohol works keeps you aware…but using them? That’s old…a ’60′s myth…drugs do NOT keep you aware!
LINKS:
Alcohol and Other Drugs
Guides for Teens and Pre-Teens
Partnership for a Drug-Free America
Join Together Community Programs
PREVLINE Clearinghouse (US Dept.of Health)
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA 12 Step)
Narcotics Anonymous (NA 12 Step)
Al-Anon/Alateen (Friends and Family of
Users/Drinkers)
For Kids Only (US Dept.Health)
Institute of Alcohol Studies
(England)
Quit Now Quit Smoking Campaign
Parents Reality Check About Drugs
Bill Moyers On Addiction – PBS
‘Close to Home’ Series
COMING SOON!
Alcohol Information/ Friend or Family Using? / More!
NEED HELP? Call these Hotlines!
Streetcats Foundation, P.O.Box 72174, Oakland, Ca 94612
415 671-6670
