Fact & Fiction : Everyone Doesn't Take Drug

whitehousedrugpolicy

Caption: Fiction Number 4: Doing drugs is a rite of passage for most teenagers. Drugs are a part of growing up and experimentation is normal and harmless. Fact: The vast majority of young people reject drugs, The national survey on drug use and health confirms this.

• According to a recent government survey drug use rates have decreased since 2001. Less and less kids are doing drugs. In fact, 600,000 fewer kids are using drugs now.

Image: Two teens at school. Caption: Drug use rates have decreased since 2001. Less and less kids are doing drugs. In fact, 691,000 fewer kids are using drugs.

Hear Details about the Dramatic Drop in Teen Drug Use

• Kids are rejecting marijuana, LSD, steroids, ecstasy, methamphetamine, alcohol and tobacco.

• Kids are also telling researchers that they know more about the dangers of drugs--and that helps them say no to drugs.

Fact: Many kids who thought they could handle drugs—including marijuana—have ended up in treatment.

• Of all young people 12-17 in drug treatment in 2000, nearly 64% had a primary marijuana dependence diagnosis. This rate has more than doubled since 1992.

• Many teens don't think they have a drug problem until they realize treatment is the only option to get their lives back on track.

• The teen brain is not fully developed and each person reacts differently to drug use, depending on his/her particular makeup. While one young person might be able to walk away from drugs after a period of drug use, someone else might end up addicted.

Fact: The younger a user starts, the more vulnerable he/ she is for serious drug dependence. Using drugs during the teenage years is an invitation to disaster .

• According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2003, adults who had first used substances at a younger age were more likely to be classified with dependence or abuse than adults who initiated use at a later age. For example, among adults aged 18 or older who first tried marijuana at age 14 or younger, 13.3 percent were classified with illicit drug dependence or abuse compared with only 2.2 percent of adults who had first used marijuana at age 18 or older. This pattern of higher rates of dependence or abuse among persons initiating their use of marijuana at younger ages was observed among all demographic subgroups analyzed.

Image: Chart compares the different age groups first drug use (number of initiates). The lowest is infant, next is older adult, then child and adult, and last, the highest, is teen.

Credit: Courtesy of NIDA

Are you above the influence?
Go to www.abovetheinfluence.com to find out.

Fact : Some kids never even make it to treatment. Drugs end their lives .There are far too many stories about kids who lost their lives because of drugs. Here are just a few:

	Irma Perez Irma was a 14 year old girl from Belmont, California who took an Ecstasy pill on April 23, 2004. Read More
	Kelley Baker Kelley was a beautiful 24 year old who died of Ecstasy...a drug her mother had never heard of. Read More
	Ian James Eaccarino Ian was the much-loved son of Ginger Katz and Louis Eaccarino. Read More

For more stories, click here.