Written By: Frances M. Harding, Director, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
We continue to celebrate National Prevention Week, and today’s theme focuses on preventing alcohol abuse. Alcohol consumption at high levels can pose serious safety and health risks and is associated with approximately 79,000 deaths per year.1 Nearly 18 million people aged 12 or older were classified with alcohol dependence or abuse in 2010.2
Several problems are associated with alcohol dependence, including liver damage, diabetes, cardiovascular complications, and chronic disease. These side effects take a toll not only on the person who …

Written By: Frances M. Harding, Director, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
Sometimes people cope with difficult life situations or seek new experiences in harmful ways, such as experimenting with drugs to try to overcome stress or feel something new.1 Others assume that if they’re not using an illegal drug, but a medication prescribed by a doctor, it’s safe to do so. However, illicit drug use and the misuse or abuse of prescription drugs are always dangerous and can lead to addiction, impaired decision-making, increased risk of psychosis, and severe physical consequences, including …

Written By: Frances M. Harding, Director, Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
In adolescence, teens are met with new life experiences and greater freedom, but also more peer pressure. It’s during this time that teens may be more likely to experiment with alcohol.
It may not cross teens’ minds that underage drinking is both illegal and dangerous. According to SAMHSA’s 2010 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 10 million people aged 12 to 20 reported consuming alcohol within the past month.1 People aged 20 or younger accounted for almost 200,000 …

Written By: Doug Tipperman, M.S.W., Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
World No Tobacco Day is observed around the world every year on May 31 to encourage cessation from all forms of tobacco consumption across the globe. The World Health Organization created World No Tobacco Day in 1987. Tobacco use is one of the leading preventable causes of death. Global tobacco use is responsible for nearly 6 million deaths every year, of which more than 600,000 are people exposed to second-hand smoke.
SAMHSA is working to prevent and reduce tobacco use in the …