Underage Drinking

• During the past month (30 days), 26.4% of underage persons (ages 12-20) used alcohol, and binge drinking among the same age group was 17.4%.
  SAMHSA

• Alcohol use remains extremely widespread among today’s teenagers.  Nearly three quarters of students (72%) have consumed alcohol (more than just a few sips) by the end of high school, and more than a third (37%) have done so by eighth grade.
  NIDA

• Past-month alcohol use rates declined between 2002 and 2008 for those ages 12-13 (4.3% to 3.4%), 14 or 15 (16.6% to 13.1%), 16 or 17 (32.6% to 26.2%), and 18-20 (51.0% to 48.7%).
  SAMHSA
  
  
• Among race demographics, whites had the highest percentage of underage (ages 12-20) past-month alcohol use (30.4%). Asians had the lowest rate at 16.1%.
  SAMHSA
  
  
• In 2008, 56.2% of current underage drinkers (ages 12-20) reported that their last use of alcohol occurred in someone else’s home; 29.6% reported that it occurred in their own home.
  SAMHSA
  
  
• Among underage drinkers (ages 12-20), 30.8% paid for the alcohol the last time they drank – including 8.3% who purchased the alcohol themselves and 22.3% who gave money to someone else to purchase it. Among those who did not pay for the alcohol they drank, 37.4% got it from an unrelated person of legal drinking age; 21.1% received it from a parent, guardian, or other adult family member.
  SAMHSA

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Other Drug Use

• Nearly half (44%) of American young people have tried cigarettes by twelfth grade, and one out of five (20%) twelfth graders is a current smoker.
  NIDA

• From 2008 to 2009, the current (past-month) illicit drug use rate among youths ages 12-17 increased from 9.3% to 10%, after six years of continued decline.
  SAMHSA

• In 2008, an estimated 20.1 million Americans ages 12 or older (8.0%) were current (past-month) illicit drug users.
  SAMHSA

• The highest levels of past-year dependence or abuse in 2008 for specific drugs were for marijuana (4.2 million), pain relievers (1.7 million), and cocaine (1.4 million).
  SAMHSA

• The current marijuana use rate among youth (ages 12-17) is 6.7%.
  SAMHSA

• The current hallucinogen use rate among youth (ages 12-17) is 1.0%.
  SAMHSA

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Impaired & Distracted Driving

• In 2009, 5,474 people were killed on U.S. roadways and an estimated additional 448,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes that were reported to have involved dis­tracted driving (FARS and GES).
  
  
• Of those people killed in distracted-driving-related crashes, 995 involved reports of a cell phone as a distrac­tion (18% of fatalities in distraction-related crashes). [NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts, 2009]
  
  
• Of those injured in distracted-driving-related crashes, 24,000 involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction (5% of injured people in distraction-related crashes). [NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts, 2009]
  
  
• Sixteen percent of fatal crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving. [NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts, 2009]
  
  
• Twenty percent of injury crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving. [NHTSA, Traffic Safety Facts, 2009]
  
  
• The age group with the greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the under-20 age group – 16 percent of all drivers younger than 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving. [NHTSA Traffic Safety Facts, 2009]
  
  
• In 2008, an estimated 12.4% of persons ages 12 or older drove under the influence of alcohol at least once during the past year.  The rate was highest among persons ages 21-25 (26.1%).
  SAMHSA, NHTSA 
  
  
• In 2008, 11,773 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one third (32%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.
  NHTSA
  
  
• In 2009, 5,474 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes that were reported to have involved distracted driving.
  NHTSA
  
  
• Of those killed in crashes related to distracted driving, 18% of fatalities involved reports of cell phone use as a distraction.
  NHTSA
  
  
• In 2009, an estimated 24,000 people were injured in crashes involving cell phones as the distraction.
  NHTSA
  
  
• Of all people injured in crashes in 2009, one in five was involved in a crash with distraction reported as a cause.
  NHTSA
  
  
• The under-20 age group had the greatest proportion of distracted drivers.  Of all drivers younger than 20 involved in fatal crashes, 16% were reported to have been distracted while driving.
  NHTSA

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Traffic Safety

• Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of death for 15- to 20-year-olds.
  NHTSA

• In 2007, 19% of the fatalities in the U.S. were related to young-driver crashes.
  NHTSA

• In the United States, the crash rate per mile driven for 16-19 year-olds is 4 times the risk for older drivers. (IIHS - Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 2009)

• Fifty-six percent (56%) of the fatal crashes and 57% of the fatalities involving young drivers occurred on rural roadways.
  NHTSA

• Speeding was a contributing factor in 31% of all fatal crashes.
  NHTSA

• In 2007, 64% of young drivers in passenger vehicles involved in fatal crashes who had been drinking were not wearing a safety belt.
  NHTSA
  

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Youth Violence & Bullying

• In 2009, 11.1% of youth in grades 9-12 reported being in a physical fight.
  CDC

• Five percent (5%) of students did not go to school on one or more occasions during the past month because they felt unsafe at school or on their way to or from school.
  CDC

• Nearly 8% of students reported being threatened or injured with a weapon on school property at least one time during the past year.
  CDC

• One in five (19.9%) students reported being bullied on school property during the past year.
  CDC

• Juveniles accounted for 16% of all violent crime arrests and 26% of all property crime arrests in 2008.
  CDC

• In 2008, 1,280 youth were arrested for murder, 3,340 for forcible rape, and 56,000 for aggravated assault.
  CDC

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Sexual Activity

• In 2009, 46% of high school students had sexual intercourse and 13.8% had four or more sex partners during their life.  Prior to the sexual activity, 21.6% drank alcohol or used drugs.  Only 38.9% used a condom.
  CDC

• In 2009, 34% of currently sexually active high school students did not use a condom during their last sexual intercourse.
  CDC

• In 2006, an estimated 5,259 young people (ages 13-24) were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.
  CDC

• Each year, approximately 19 million new STD infections occur, and almost half of them are among youth ages 15-24.
  CDC

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Mental Health

• The most common reasons youth receive mental health services are feeling depressed (50%), problems at home/family (28.8%), breaking rules or “acting out” (25.1%), and suicidal thoughts or attempts (20.2%).
  SAMHSA

• Among youth, females are more likely than males to receive mental health services in outpatient specialty, educational, or general medical settings.
  SAMHSA

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