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Drug Prevention Facts

Tragically, the fight against substance abuse is often forfeit before a child tosses the tassel at his high school graduation. Many, in fact, surrender before even getting to high school. In 1965, the average age at which a child first consumed alcohol was 17.5 years old. By 2003, that age had dropped to just 14.(11, 12) If you have not had the opportunity to research this topic independently, its very important that you take this moment to put your feet firmly on the ground. In order to do so, please consider the following question:

The answer to this question will help you understand just how important substance abuse prevention is. Before we give you the answer, though, consider for a moment how devastating it would be if someone close to you was told that they had an incurable disease. Imagine standing next to them while they receive the news that their life will never be what it could have been, it will never be what they dreamed it would be. Imagine the image of their face, as they consider an existence where every relationship, every obligation, every desire and every ambition must fall subordinate to a dark and sinister cloud looming on the horizon. Now imagine that shell of a person to be your child.

For those who have succumbed to substance abuse, the picture painted above is exactly what awaits them. 90% of alcoholics relapse after having sought and completed recovery treatment, a relapse rate very similar to that of other addictions. (1, 2, 3) There is a popular misconception that once a person “hits bottom”, they seek treatment and get their life back on course. Unfortunately, that could not be further from the truth. Even for those who manage to climb back out of an addictive pattern, their life is never the same.

But “hitting bottom” and fighting back is perhaps a better fate than that experienced by the majority of substance abusers; those who never actually hit bottom. For them, substance abuse habits were learned in high school, matured in college, and then settled in for the long ride of adulthood. Along the way, their life became tattered by divorce, disappointment, disillusionment and destruction – only they never learned to identify their problems with substance abuse because the drug never emerged as the dominant crisis. To them it seemed as if “life” was the crisis. In the mirror, they just see a casual drinker, an occasional partier, one of the guys.

As I type this page, substance abuse experts are eying an addiction boom in the U.S. Only this boom isn’t amongst college binge drinkers, it’s amongst Baby Boomers. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, those aged 50 and over are entering addiction treatment facilities at a rate double that of prior generations. Heroine use amongst this mature group has doubled, cocaine use has quadrupled, and prescription drug abuse has created a health crisis in an of itself.(4) But this tragic ending says less about who these people are, than about who they were. What we are now witnessing, is the tragic conclusion of a story that was written some thirty-five years ago.

If you are a parent today, your family is right now in the process of writing its own conclusion. As you read through the following facts, consider how that conclusion could read.

• A child who drinks alcohol before reaching her 15th birthday is 400% more likely to become an alcoholic than are her sober peers.(5)
• Fully 40% of those in this group will be alcoholics by they time they are just 24 years old.(5)
• These kids are 12 times more likely to be injured in an alcohol related car crash at some point in their lives(6)
• They produce substantially more teen pregnancies and succumb to more sexually transmitted diseases. They’re much more likely to develop poly-drug habits and are 3 times more likely to attempt suicide.(7)

Why did we choose to zone in on alcohol here? Because alcohol kills more kids (and adults) than all other illicit drugs combined. (8) Kids who engage in underage drinking are 180% more likely to use marijuana than are their sober peers. (9) They’re 8.5 times more likely to become an illicit drug addict, 9.5 times more likely to drive while drunk and 5 times more likely to develop a criminal record. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, underage drinking costs our country an estimated $52.8 billion dollars a year in medical expenses, traffic crashes, crime, property damage and other related expenditures. We’re just scratching the surface here, but it’s time to ask a question: Do these statistics jive with the popular public perception of underage drinking?

Of course we know the answer, so the next question must be, “Is your family, and is your community, treating this issue in the manner it deserves to be treated? Are you protecting your kids?” We’ve cited all of the facts given here so you can disseminate them as needed. Before you do, make sure you add one more to the list…a person that abstains from alcohol past his 21st birthday exhibits virtually no incidence of substance abuse later in life.(5)(10) Now that’s a conclusion worth writing!

As you read those last two sentences, did it seem like we were talking about a fiction or non-fiction piece? For some, the story of a 19 year old that hasn’t yet been drunk comes with the distinct jingle of a fairy tale. And that’s how many parents tend to treat it. But this powerful gateway drug does more than just steal our youth. 20,000 people enter American hospitals every day for the treatment of alcohol related injury or illness; that’s 7.6 million people a year. Consistently racking up over 80,000 deaths per year, the United States Center for Disease Control ranks alcohol use as the 3rd greatest preventable cause of death for Americans; greater than car crashes, illicit drugs and violent crime combined. Its involved in 40% of all fatal falls, 37% of all fatal car crashes and 66% of all domestic violence assaults. 14 million Americans are currently suffering with an alcohol abuse problem. One in four children lives with a parent who is an alcoholic and more than half of all Americans have a close family member that has struggled with alcoholism. It’s time this fairy tale of sober 19 year olds took it’s rightful spot in the history books, listed alongside the greatest accomplishments in American history. The next generation is the only one that can do it, and they need your help. Only prevention can get us there. The pen is in your hand?

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1. Polich, J.M.; Armor, D.J.; and Braiker, H.B. Stability and change in drinking patterns. In: The Course of Alcoholism: Four Years After Treatment. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1981. pp. 159-200.
2. Hunt, W.A.;Barnett, L.W.; and Branch, L.G. Relapse rates in addictions programs. Journal of Clinical Psychology 27:455-456, 1971.
3. Marlatt, G.A. & Gordon, J.R. Determinants of relapse: Implications of the maintenance of behavior change. In: Davidson, P.O., and Davidson, S.M., eds. Behavioral Medicine: Changing Health Lifestyle. New York: Brunner/Mazel, 1980. pp.410-452.
4. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied Studies. (June 17, 2010). The TEDS Report: Changing Substance Abuse Patterns among Older Admissions: 1992 and 2008. Rockville, MD.
5. Grant BF, Dawson DA: Age at onset of alcohol use and its association with DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence: results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiological Survey. J Subst Abuse 1997; 9:103–110
6. Age of Drinking Onset, Driving After Drinking, and Involvement in Alcohol-Related Motor Vehicle Crashes; Office of Research and Traffic Records, NHTSA, NTS-31, 400 Seventh Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20590
7. Windle, M.; Miller–Tutzauer, C.; and Domenico, D. Alcohol use, suicidal behavior, and risky activities among adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence 2(4):317–330, 1992.
8. Grunbaum, J.A.; Kann, L.; Kinchen, S.A.; et al. Youth risk behavior surveillance: United States, 2001. MMWR: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 51(SS0 4): 1–62, 2002. AND Young, S.E.; Corley, R.P.; Stallings, M.C.; et al. Substance use, abuse and dependence in adolescence: Prevalence, symptom profiles and correlates. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 68(3):309–322, 2002.
9. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (2009); Columbia University. National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse XIV: Teens and Parents. NY, NY.
10. Califano, Joseph A. Jr., How to Raise a Drug Free Kid. Simon and Schulster; 2009. NY, NY
11. Newes-Adeyi, G.; Chen, C.M.; Williams, G.D.; and Faden, V.B. NIAAA Surveillance Report No. 74: Trends in Underage Drinking in the United States, 1991–2003. Bethesda, MD: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2005.
12. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Results from the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: National Findings. NHSDA Series H–22, DHHS Pub. No. SMA 03–3836. Rockville, MD: SAMHSA, Office of Applied Studies, 2003.