Teen Drinking & Drug Use

"Research shows that kids will often experiment with alcohol or drugs earlier than parents think. Kids who try alcohol start at age eleven, on average; for marijuana, it's twelve," says David Walsh, an educational specialist. (Walsh, 2007, p. 177) Notice that these ages are "averages," which means that while some will start experimenting later, others will start much sooner as well. This is why you can't wait until the teen years to start talking about these tough life issues.

According to the National Center on Addiction & Substance Abuse, when asked which is the easiest to buy, teens answered:

Cigarettes: 24.8%
Marijuana: 23.3%
Prescription drugs: 18.8%
Beer: 14.5%
All the same: 7%
Don’t know: 11.6
(Kornblum, 8/14/08)

It's not just the "bad kids" who can be prone to alcohol or drug problems. A study by Dr. G. David Batty found that children with high IQ's at age 10 are more likely to have alcohol problems later. In young girls, a 15-point 10 bump increases the risk of alcohol dependency in adulthood by 38 percent. For boys, the same 15-point edge in IQ increases alcohol problems by 17 percent. (Week, 11-7-08)

Epidemiological studies suggest that the earlier someone starts using a substance, the more likely he or she is to end up with big problems later. In early 2009, a study tracking more than 1,000 people in New Zealand from age 3 to 38 found that those who started drinking or using drugs regularly before age 15 were far more likely to fail in school, be convicted of a crime, or have substance abuse problems as an adult. (Shute, 02/2009)

A survey of 1,877 high school seniors determined that underage drinkers partake in alcohol for 4 main reasons: to experiment, to thrill-seek, to relax, and for "mixed reasons," which is the category that yielded the most problematic drinkers. "Members of all four profiles," the study reports, "indicated that they drink to have a good time with friends." (Coffman et al., 2007)

According to surveys, 82% of Americans will engage in underage drinking. (Johnston et al., 2004) Keep in mind, bad behavior, depending on the type, tends to be under-reported even in anonymous surveys, so actual numbers could be well near 100%.

"When alcohol is presented as impossibly dangerous, it becomes alluring as a 'forbidden fruit.’ The choice between abstinence and excess is not a good one to force on children." –Psychologist Stanton Peele in his 2007 book 'Addiction Proof Your Child.'

"It's easy for these kids to get their hand on prescription drugs," says Whei Wong, a school district spokeswoman for Douglas County, Colorado. "They're getting it from their parent's or grandmother's medicine cabinets." (Washington & Gutierrez, 2-9-08)

A single marijuana cigarette has the same effects on the lungs as smoking up to 5 cigarettes in succession.

- Teen Drinking & Drug Use -

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Of all the new dimensions that the teen life brings, perhaps none is more worrisome or potentially devastating than Drug and alcohol use. While some experimentation with drugs or alcohol among adolescents is normal and to be expected, it's also a serious, life-threatening issue. Every year
hundreds of teens lose their lives due to drug or alcohol use, and countless more start themselves
down the path of life-long addiction. Here is some information that every parent must know
about teen drinking & drug use: