Drug Prevention

Drug icons crossed out with a red circle and a caption saying "Say No to Drugs"

Notice:

Synthetic drugs, including counterfeit pills that may contain fentanyl or other dangerous substances, pose a serious and growing threat to the health and safety of young people. Because these drugs are often manufactured illegally, there is no way to know what they contain, making even a single use potentially life-threatening. Social media platforms have also become a common avenue for individuals to market and sell illegal synthetic drugs, often targeting youth through direct messages, disappearing content, or posts that make these substances appear harmless or appealing. Parents, caregivers, and students are encouraged to have open conversations about the risks of synthetic drugs, practice safe and responsible social media use, and report any suspicious online activity. By staying informed and maintaining open communication, families and schools can work together to help protect students from these dangerous and deceptive threats.

Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH):

In 2020, 50.0% of people aged 12 or older (or 138.5 million people) used alcohol in the past month (i.e., current alcohol users)
About 2.3 million adolescents aged 12 to 17 in 2019 drank alcohol in the past month, and 1.2 million of these adolescents binge drank in that period (2019 NSDUH)
Approximately 14.5 million people age 12 or older had an alcohol use disorder (2019 NSDUH)
Among people aged 12 or older in 2020, 3.4% (or 9.5 million people) misused opioids in the past year (2020 NSDUH)
2019 NSDUH data indicates that 48.2 million Americans aged 12 or older, 17.5 percent of the population, used marijuana in the past year
In 2019, NSDUH data show an estimated 5.5 million people aged 12 or older were past users of cocaine, including about 778,000 users of crack.