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Nearly 8,000
Youths Drink Alcohol for the First Time Each Day
November 8, 2007
Thousands of
youths use alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs for the first
time each day in the United States , according to a recent
analysis of data from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use
and Health (NSDUH).
On an average
day in the past year, 7,970 youths ages 12 to 17 drank
alcohol for the first time and 4,082 smoked cigarettes.
More than 4,300
youths per day used at least one kind of illicit drug for
the first time, primarily marijuana and pain relievers used
nonmedically. The substances with the lowest number of
initiates on an average day were methamphetamine and heroin.
A copy of the
report, which also describes average daily substance use
prevalence and treatment admissions by youth, is available
online at
www.oas.samhsa.gov/2k7/youthFacts/youth.cfm.
For details,
including data charts, source information and caveats,
download the
PDF.
Reprinted from
CESAR Fax,
a weekly, one-page overview of timely substance abuse trends
or issues, from
The Center on
Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) at the
University of Maryland |
