Facts to Know and Use

Substance Abuse Prevention Works

• 8th grade students have decreased their lifetime use of cigarettes by 97.6% from 40.5% in 2000, to 20.5% in 2008; 10th grade students have decreased their lifetime use of cigarettes by 73.8% from 55.1% in 2000, to 31.7% in 2008; and 12th grade students have decreased their lifetime use of cigarettes by 39.8% from 62.5% in 2000, to 44.7% in 2008 (MTF)
• 8th grade students have decreased their 30-day use of alcohol by 35.2% from 21.5% in 2001, to 15.9% in 2008; 10th grade students have decreased their 30-day use of alcohol by 35.4% from 39.0% in 2001, to 28.8% in 2008; 12th grade students have decreased their 30-day use of alcohol by 15.5% from 49.8% in 2001, to 43.1% in 2008 (MTF)
• For persons aged 12 and older, the annual use of methamphetamine decreased by 40% from 0.7% in 2002 to 0.5% in 2007 (NHS)
• For persons ages 12 to 13, the annual use of alcohol decreased by 20.5% from 12.2% in 2003 to 9.7% in 2007 (NHS)
• On average students whose peers had little or no involvement with drinking or drugs scored 18 points higher in the reading portion of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) test and 45 points higher on the math section. The differences are as large as the average differences between students scoring below the standard (level 2) and those meeting the standard level (3) (WA)

Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Are Good Investments

• Every dollar invested in research based substance use/abuse prevention programs, strategies and activities have the potential to save up to $7 in areas such as substance abuse treatment and criminal justice system costs (NIDA)
• Young people who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who began drinking at age 21. Overall, the risk for alcohol dependence decreases by 14 percent with each increasing year of age of drinking onset (NIAAA)
• The estimated total cost of medical consequences (including hospital and ambulatory care, drug-exposed infants; tuberculosis; HIV/AIDS; Hepatitis B and C; crime victim health care costs; and health insurance administration) associated with drug abuse in the United States was $5.7 billion. (ONDCP)

Sources

PEW - Study findings sponsored by The Pew Charitable Trusts 2001
PRIDE - Parents’ Resource Institute for Drug Education, National Summary 2000-01
NHS - National Household Survey 2002, 2003, 2007; MTF - Monitoring the Future Study 2008
WA - Washington Kids Count/University of Washington, 2000
NIDA – National Institute on Drug Abuse 2007: Research Update from the National Institute on Drug    Abuse — Drug Abuse is a Preventable Behavior 
NIAAA - National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, News Release 1998
ONDCP - Office of National Drug Control Policy 2001 : The Economic Costs of Drug Abuse in the United States