Today I encountered a news article about juvenile drug addiction and alcoholism. The following quote is from this article.

According to a study conducted by SCOSA, one in five children age 10 to 14 drink alcohol on a regular basis in Sarasota County. One in 10 use pot on a regular basis. One in 50 use prescription drugs not prescribed to them by a doctor.

The statistics are even worse for high school students. Three in five drink on a regular basis. One in four use pot. One in 20 abuse prescription drugs.

“The rates are going up, not decreasing,” Phillips said. “Why not stop it now before it spirals?”

It is not just the county’s youth who are using or abusing substances, Phillips said. The number of senior citizens arrested for DUI and selling drugs is also rising.

The Sun Herald on sun-herald.com.

The reference to the fact that the rates are going up and not down are of no surprise to anyone in the drug and alcohol rehabilitation industry. Kids are starting drugs at an ever increasing younger age and the availability of “street” drugs, like the availability of prescription drugs, is unfortunately increasing alarmingly. The key to the problem short of cutting supply, which has never worked yet, is the education of children about the real truths about drugs of all types so that they see what really lies ahead of them if they go the route of drugs.

The information is there, we just need to get it where it belongs; into the minds of future drug and alcohol victims, our children.

Original post by Derry