News / Education
Teen Drug Use Stats
Drug use is still an epidemic among U.S. teens. Who’s using and what drugs are popular now?
New research released in March 2009 based on two studies funded by NIDA and SAMHSA show that teen drug use continues to be a popular pastime.
A whopping 8 percent of the U.S. population -- or 19.9 million Americans -- 12 or older admitted to being current users of an illicit drug. In addition, an estimated 70.9 million Americans reported being current users of a tobacco product. That adds up to 28.6 percent of all those 12 or older using tobacco on a regular basis. Not surprisingly, marijuana continues to be very popular among teens, ranking as the most widely used illicit substance in this country with 14.4 million current users.
Teen Prescription Drug Abuse
Newer drug trends like prescription abuse also showed up in the survey. Vicodin is one of the drugs most commonly abused by adolescents with 15.4 percent of high school seniors in America reporting using a prescription drug for non-medical purposes in the last year.
While kids think they are invincible, they can soon find themselves unable to stop a behavior they thought was merely for fun. That’s when teen experimentation turns into full-blown addiction by adulthood.
Teen Drug Addiction Rehab
If you or a family member are struggling with an addiction to drugs or alcohol, call The Canyon at our toll-free number. Someone is there to take your call 24 hours a day and answer any questions you have about treatment, financing or insurance.
