FACTS: Save your teen.

One-third of all teens do not understand that abusing prescription pain relievers can be "as dangerous—and addictive—as using street narcotics and other illicit drugs."1 In fact, 40 percent of young people wrongly believe that prescription medicines are “much safer” than illegal drugs.
View Source


Nearly 1 in 5 teens (4.5 million people) said that they use prescription medications to get high,1 and 1 in 10 (2.4 million people) said that they use prescription stimulants and tranquilizers to get high.2 Nearly two-thirds of teens report that prescription pain relievers are easy to find at home, in the medicine cabinet.
View Source


When young people drink, they tend to drink heavily. Underage drinkers consume, on average, four to five drinks per occasion, compared with two to three drinks per occasion among adult drinkers aged 26 and older.
View Source


More teenage girls than boys now smoke and abuse prescription drugs. Girls also are starting to use marijuana, alcohol, and cigarettes at a higher rate than boys.
View Source


Treating mental illnesses is an important step in keeping youth away from alcohol and illegal drugs. About half of teens and young adults who receive alcohol or drug treatment also have mental disorders.
View Source


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Survey of high school students nationwide revealed that 28% drank alcohol other than a few sips before age 13 years.3 By age 17 years they were 7 times more likely to consume 5 or more drinks 6 or more times per month than those who waited until they were 17 years or older to begin drinking.Use of alcohol at an early age may cause problems later in life. Kids who drink alcohol before age 15 are five times more likely to have alcohol problems as adults than those who first drink at age 21 or older.
View Source


It's more important than ever to guard your child from the dangers of smoking: Cigarettes may be more addictive than they used to be. The amount of nicotine that smokers inhale per cigarette rose by 11 percent from 1998 to 2005.
View Source


Young drinkers are more likely to use alcohol to relieve stress when they get older. A National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism survey found that, among adults with a high level of stress in their lives, people who began drinking at age 14 or younger drank five times more than their peers who started drinking at age 18 or older, consuming an average of six drinks per day.
View Source


The Internet can be a setting for risky behavior. Nearly 2 in 3 teenagers who go online say they do things there that they would not want their parents to know about. Almost half of 16- and 17-year-olds say their parents know little or nothing about the teens online behavior.1
View Source



The more that young people see and hear alcohol ads, the more likely they are to drink alcohol illegally. Yet, about half of all alcohol ads on the radio are aired during programs that attract three-fourths of the underage listening audience.
View Source



Adolescents often overlook the risks of inhalants. Although they can be injured, suffer serious medical effects, or die any time they use inhalants, five in eight 8th-graders do not see great risk in trying them.
View Source