Alcohol
In 2016, the US Surgeon General, Vivek Murthy, MD released the first report dedicated to substance misuse and related disorders entitled, Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs and Health. “Although substance misuse problems and use disorders may occur at any age, adolescence and young adulthood are particularly critical at-risk periods,” Dr. Murthy said.
“Preventing or even simply delaying young people from trying substances is important to reducing the likelihood of a use disorder later in life.” He went on to point out that people who use alcohol before the age of 15 are four times more likely to develop an alcohol use disorder later in life compared to those who have their first drink
at age 20 or older. It is not surprising to find that teens who use alcohol are more likely to engage in risky behaviors. Using alcohol or other drugs can lower a teen’s inhibitions and impact their judgement by influencing their ability to assess that a situation is dangerous or even deadly.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s, Division of Adolescent and School Health collects data every year for their Youth Risk Surveillance System which monitors six categories of priority health-risk among adolescents at the national, state, territorial, tribal, and local levels. Their 2016 data showed that 22% of teens who are already sexually active, drank alcohol or used drugs before engaging in sexual intercourse which in turn put the teens at risk for pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
Using alcohol or other drugs can lead to serious problems for teens including poor performance at school, loss of friends and becoming alienated from their family. Substance abuse is also related to car crashes, suicides and injuries. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that in 2010 excessive drinking was responsible for more than 4,300 deaths among underage youth and there were approximately 189,000 emergency department visits by persons under 21 for injuries and other conditions linked to alcohol.
Source: Patricia Murphy Warble, LMSW, CPP, Parenting for Prevention June 2017
