Alcohol
- Eight young people a day die in alcohol-related crashes.
- Alcohol kills more teenagers than all other drugs combined. It is a factor in the three leading causes of death among 15-24 year olds: accidents, homicides, and suicides.
- Over 33% of all deaths for people aged 15-20 result from motor vehicle crashes. In 1996, almost two out of five of these motor vehicle fatalities involved alcohol.
- Students with GPAs of D or F drink three times as much as those who earn A's.
- Youth who drink are 7.5 times more likely to use other illicit drugs and 50 times more likely to use cocaine than young people who never drink.
Visit the In the Know Zone alcohol pages to learn more about the problems associated with alcohol.
Tobacco
- Almost 90% of all regular smokers began before the age of 18.
- Teens who smoke cigarettes are over 13 times as likely to try heroin as teens who don't smoke.
- In 1930, the lung cancer death rate for men was 4.9 per 100,000; by 1984, the rate had increased to 87 per 100,000.
- The lung cancer rate among women has increased by 600% in the last fifty years, along with cigarette consumption by women.
- Since 1985 lung cancer has been the #1 cancer killer of women, surpassing breast cancer.
- Chewing tobacco (or spit tobacco) also contains nicotine and has at least 28 cancer-causing chemicals!
- Spit tobacco users have a nine times greater risk of developing gum disease than non-users.
Visit the In the Know Zone alcohol pages to learn more about the problems associated with alcohol.
All Drugs
- 90% of cocaine users used tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana before they ever tried cocaine.
- 80% of people aged 12-18 don't use marijuana and don't think it's okay to use marijuana.
- 72% of youth, ages 12-17, have never used illicit drugs in their lifetime.
- 9% of 12-17 year olds are current, past month users of illicit drugs. This is a 21% drop between 1997-1999.
- There were 2.3 million new marijuana users in 1998. This is 11% fewer than the 2.6 million in 1997.
- Among teenagers, there was an increase in the perception that drug use is harmful and socially unacceptable.
- Teens who eat dinner often with their parents are less likely to abuse substances.
- A child who reaches the age of 21 without using drugs, smoking cigarettes, or abusing alcohol is almost certain never to do so.
