Research indicates that the human brain continues to develop into a person’s early 20’s and that exposure of the developing brain to alcohol may have long-lasting effects on the intellectual capabilities and may increase the likelihood of alcohol addiction. The age when drinking starts affects future drinking problems. For each year drinking is delayed, the risk of later alcohol addiction is reduced by 14 percent.
One in six teens have used a prescription drug in order to get high or change their mood. Only six percent of parents say they have a child who abused medicine; however, ten percent of teens admit to misusing/abusing medicines in the past six months. Two-thirds of teens who abuse pain relievers say they get them from family members or friends.
Some statistics regarding tobacco use...
- Almost 58% of students say it’s easy to obtain tobacco products, and half of those do not think it is wrong to smoke. SPG-SIG (2012)
- About 32.8% of Dyer County residents smoke. This smoking rate has a confidence interval between 24.5%-41.2%.
- Twenty-three percent of Americans are smokers.
