Drugs, Alcohol &Tobacco

Drugs
Some signs & symptoms:

  1. Negative changes in schoolwork, missing school or declining
    grades
  2. Increased secrecy about possessions or activities
  3. New friends
  4. Changes in mood or attitudes, changes in sleeping habits, or
    unusual temper or outbursts

Facts:

  1. Every day approx. 4,700 American youth under the age of 18 try
    marijuana for the first time.
  2. Nearly 9 out of 10 12th graders reported that marijuana is easily
    accessible.
  3. 19 % of percent of high school students polled have used
    marijuana 4 or more times by 11th grade. (1)
  4. Ecstasy is a mind-altering drug with hallucinogenic and
    amphetamine-like properties.
  5. Ecstasy is also called MDMA, "Adam," or "XTC".
  6. The long term effects of Ecstasy may cause permanent damage
    to the brain’s ability to think and store memories.
  7. 1 in 5 teens has abused a prescription pain medication.
  8. 1 in 5 teens report abusing prescription stimulants and
    tranquilizers.
  9. 1 in 10 teens has abused cough medication

All content sourced from TheAntiDrug.com, California Healthy Kids
Survey,www.teendrugabuse.us/teendrugstatistics, www.streetdrugs.com

Alcohol
Alcohol can impair the parts of the brain that control the following:

  1. Motor coordination. This includes the ability to walk, drive and
    process information.
  2. Impulse control
  3. Memory
  4. Judgment and decision making capacity

Facts:

  1. If a teen starts to drink at 15, he or she has a 40% chance of
    alcoholism or alcohol dependencies as an adult.
  2. 1 out of 2 8th graders have tried alcohol.
  3. 80% of high school students have tried alcohol.
  4. Alcohol is implicated in the top 3 causes of teen deaths: accidents (including traffic fatalities and drowning), homicide and
    suicide.
  5. More than 67 percent of young people who start drinking before
    the age of 15 will try an illicit drug.
  6. The National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse at
    Columbia University has found that due to both physiological and psychological contributors girls become addicted to alcohol faster than boys.

All content sourced from: TheAntiDrug.com, Joseph Califano,"Teen Tipplers: America’s Underage Drinking Epidemic”, February 26, 2002 The National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse.
Other Resources: www.stopalcoholabuse.gov/parents.aspx

Tobacco

  1. Nicotine, the main drug in tobacco, is one of the most heavily
    used addictive drugs in the United States.
  2. 3.6 million youth, ages 12 to 17, used tobacco.
  3. Young adults aged 18 to 25 reported the highest rate of current
    use of any tobacco products in 2004.
  4. Nicotine is highly addictive and acts as both a stimulant and a
    sedative to the central nervous system.
  5. Youth who smoke cigarettes are 14 times more likely to try
    marijuana as those who don't.
  6. Nicotine accumulates in the body.
  7. The carbon monoxide in the smoke increases the chance of
    cardiovascular diseases.
  8. Second-hand smoke can cause illness.

All content sourced from TheAntiDrug.com