NCJ Number
169240
Date Published
1998
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This chapter reports on a survey of teenagers and their parents concerning teenage drug use.
Abstract
In 1996, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University conducted a study into those factors which contribute to a teenager's risk of substance abuse. Analysis showed that illegal drugs was the most serious problem facing teenagers, in their own estimation, as well as that of their parents. Twenty-two percent of teenagers said it was likely they would try an illegal drug in the future, twice the 11 percent disclosed in a 1995 survey. The threat and temptation of illegal drugs, cigarettes and alcohol have become near universal experiences for America's teenagers. Controls on the sale of beer and alcohol work; cigarette restrictions are hollow. Household products on which teenagers can get high complicate the antidrug task. Interdiction efforts to reduce the flow of drugs into the United States are not enough unless society is prepared to also interdict the supply of those readily available commercial products. However, interdiction efforts are no substitute for parental responsibility and fostering a new culture of intolerance toward illegal drug use.