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Health Topics
Understanding the Drugs Teens Use
The Gateway Drugs: Alcohol
Alcohol the most
dangerous gateway drug
In all fifty states, it is illegal to sell alcoholic beverages to anyone under
21. This is no accident, because for teenagers alcohol is a gateway
to a lot more than other drugs.
Alcohol causes more deaths among
adolescents than any other substance.
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Alcohol causes more deaths among adolescents than any other substance.
Alcohol is involved in one third of all traffic deaths for young people aged
15 through 19. Overall, driving under the influence is the leading cause of
death for people between the ages of 15 and 24.
Alcohol also frequently plays a role in adolescent deaths from other
causes: homicides, suicides, drownings, and motorcycle and bicycle
accidents.
In addition, alcohol plays an important role in adolescent crime, sexual
promiscuity, and date rape. According to research compiled by Mothers
Against Drunk Driving (MADD), 95 percent of violent crime on college campuses
is alcohol related, and 90 percent of reported campus rapes involve alcohol
use by the assailant, the victim, or both.
In one study cited by MADD, 60 percent of college women diagnosed with a sexually
transmitted infection were drunk when they became infected.
Another sobering reality about drinking is the early age at which it frequently
begins. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, about one in five
fifth-graders has already experienced alcohol intoxication. Four out of
ten sixth-graders say they feel pressure from other students to drink.
More than 50 percent of eighth-graders and eight out of ten twelfth-graders
have tried alcohol at least once. One in four eighth-graders
and half of all twelfth-graders have used alcohol within a
given month."
More alcoholic products that specifically appeal to kids are hitting
the marketplace. Wine coolers are increasingly popular with younger
drinkers, as are a new wave of alcoholic concoctions billed as "thirst quenchers,"
often containing lemon or other fruit flavors.
A significant number of drinkers (about 20 percent) develop full-blown
alcohol addiction and struggle with it for years. Ironically, the person
who prides himself on the ability to "hold his liquor" is at the greatest risk
for alcoholism. If large quantities of alcohol must be consumed to produce intoxication,
he is demonstrating a tolerance for alcohol something all alcoholics have
in common and addiction is likely to develop.
Tolerance of alcohol and the risk of addiction are thought to be genetically
predisposed and usually run in families. Adolescents with family members
who have had alcohol-abuse problems must be warned that they are at higher risk
for becoming addicted to alcohol if they ever start drinking.
The Focus on the Family Physicians Resource Council, U.S.A.
Adapted from Parents' Guide to Teen Health,
a Focus on the Family publication.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Last updated: May 2005
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Parents' Guide to Teen Health
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