Columbia - About half of high school students in the US take illicit drugs, smoke, drink alcohol or are engaged in a combination of the three habits, a US survey has found.
According to the report by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, 6.1 million, or 46 percent, of high school students in the US use addictive substances while one in three of them are addicted to these chemicals.
The new report is based on surveys of 1,000 high school students, 1,000 parents, and 500 school officers, along with expert interviews, focus groups, a literature review of 2,000 scientific articles, and an analysis of 7 data sets.
The new analysis showed that 10 million, or about 75 percent, of the US high school students have tried tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, or cocaine; and one in five of them meet the medical criteria for addiction.
According to the report, 72.5 percent of US high school students have consumed alcohol, 46.3 percent have smoked cigarettes, almost 37 percent have used marijuana while around 15 percent have misused prescription drugs, and over 65 percent have used more than one addictive substance, the findings show.
The new research also found that around a quarter of Americans who began using addictive substances before age 18 have become addicted, compared with one in 25 of those who started using a substance at the age of 21 or afterwards.
"Addiction is a disease that in most cases begins in adolescence, so preventing or delaying teens from using alcohol, tobacco or other drugs for as long as possible is crucial to their health and safety," said Susan Foster, CASA's vice president.
"We rightfully worry about other teen health problems like obesity, depression or bullying, but we turn a blind eye to a more common and deadly epidemic that we can in fact prevent."
"The combination of adolescence, an American culture that glorifies and promotes substance use, and easy access to tobacco, alcohol and other drugs creates a perfect storm for our teens and for taxpayers," said Jim Ramstad, a CASA board member who chaired the report's National Advisory Commission.
"We no longer can justify writing off adolescent substance use as bad behavior, as a rite of passage or as kids just being kids. The science is too clear, the facts are too compelling, the health and social consequences are too devastating and the costs are simply too high," he added.
The total cost of substance use by people of all ages in the US is at least USD 468 billion per year or nearly USD 1,500 for each person, the report said.
Today : Sunday - May 27, 2012, 02:31pm (GMT+5.5)
