In addition, tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and prescription drugs are widely (available)to teens.
Teen substance use is the largest (preventable) and most expensive public health problem in the United States, according to the study. The immediate costs per year of teen substance use include an (estimated) $68 billion associated with underage drinking and $14 billion in substance-related juvenile justice costs.
The total national cost of substance use by people of all ages is at least $468 billion per year, or nearly $1,500 for every person in the nation, the report indicates.
"The combination of adolescence, an American culture that glorifies and promotes substance use, and easy access to tobacco, (alcohol) and other drugs creates a perfect storm for our teens and for taxpayers," Jim Ramstad, a CASA board member who also chaired the report's National Advisory Commission, said in the news release.
"We no longer can justify writing off (adolescent) substance use as bad behavior, as a rite of passage or as kids just being kids.
