Fiction: Everyone Uses Drugs

Fiction: Doing drugs is a rite of passage for most teenagers. Drugs are a normal part of growing up, and experimentation is normal and harmless.

Fact: The vast majority of young people reject drugs.

According to the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, the vast majority of young people do not use illicit drugs.¹ The rate of illicit drug use was 9.3% of the young people surveyed. In fact, illicit drug use rates among teens have decreased since 2002.

More teens are now saying no to drugs including marijuana, cocaine, non-medical use of prescription drugs, and methamphetamine.

• The vast majority of young people do not smoke marijuana. The 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported that only 6.7 % of all young people reported using marijuana in the past month.¹
• The 2009 Monitoring the Future Survey reported that the number of high school seniors reporting they used methamphetamine dropped from 4.7% in 1999 to 1.2% in 2009.²
• The 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health also showed that underage alcohol use has also declined since 2002, and teens are smoking tobacco less than they were in 2002.¹

Fact: The majority of young people disapprove of their friends smoking marijuana and perceive a great risk in smoking marijuana.

Most young people disapprove of their friends using marijuana or hashish. The 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health showed that 83% of young people disapproved of their friends using marijuana or hashish.¹

The majority of young people believe there is a great risk in smoking marijuana. The 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health also showed that more than half of all young people surveyed reported a great risk of using marijuana once or twice a week.¹

Fact: Young people agree that cocaine is harmful.

The majority of 10th graders think taking cocaine occasionally is harmful to their health. The 2009 Monitoring the Future Survey reported that more than 70% of 10th graders think that taking cocaine occasionally can harm them.²

Fact: Many kids who thought they could handle drugs—including marijuana—have ended up abusing the drug, getting addicted, and needing treatment.

Each person reacts differently to drug use, depending on his or her particular makeup. In general, the more risk factors a person has, the greater chance that taking drugs will lead to abuse and addiction. While one young person might be able to walk away from drugs after abusing the drug, someone else might end up addicted.

Many teens don't think they have a drug problem until they realize treatment for their drug abuse and addiction is the only option to get their lives back on track. According to the 2008 Survey on Drug Use and Health, 1.9 million young people needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol use.¹

Fact: The younger a person starts using drugs, the more vulnerable they are to serious drug dependence.

According to the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, adults who had first used substances at a younger age were more likely to be classified with dependence or abuse than adults who started use at a later age.¹

For example, among adults aged 18 or older who first tried marijuana at age 14 or younger, 13.5% were classified with illicit drug dependence or abuse compared with only 2.2% of adults who had first used marijuana at age 18 or older.

And the same goes for alcohol. In 2008, adults who had first used alcohol at age 14 or younger were more than five times as likely to be classified with alcohol dependence or abuse as adults who had their first drink at age 21 or older.

Fact: Some kids never even make it to treatment. Drug use ends their lives.

There are far too many stories about young adults 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 died after taking an Ecstasy pill. >>

Kelley Baker

Kelley was a beautiful 24-year-old who died of an Ecstasy overdose... a drug her mother had never heard of. >>

Ian James Eaccarino

Ian was a son, brother, friend, athlete, and honor student who died of a heroin overdose at the age of 20. >>

More true stories.

Source Information

¹2008 National Survey on Drug Use & Health: National Findings, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied Studies, September 2009

²Johnston, L. D., O'Malley, P. M., Bachman, J. G., & Schulenberg, J. E. (2010). Monitoring the Future national results on adolescent drug use: Overview of key findings, 2009 (NIH Publication No. 10-7583). Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse