What You Should Know

Tobacco, Alcohol, Drugs

Not all kids in Maine drink, smoke or use drugs, yet all teens are at risk.

www.maineparents.net

Many links and other resources are in the back of our brochure and here online. We urge parents and students to visit both for further help.

Alcohol impairs normal brain chemical function in adolescents significantly more than adults.
Adolescents can become addicted to alcohol in only 6-8 months. For adults it takes 5-15 years.
Alcohol related accidents are one of the leading causes of death and disability among teenagers.
“Chugging” drinks can be fatal because it raises the blood alcohol level rapidly.
Alcohol interferes with memory formation in adolescents significantly more than it does in adults.
For every year that adolescents delay using alcohol, they decrease the odds of lifelong dependence by 15% and alcohol abuse by 8%.
Kids who drink before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who begin drinking at age 21.

Tobacco is highly addictive. One third of young people who are ‘just experimenting’ become addicted by age 20.
There are over 4,000 chemicals and 40 carcinogens (including 200 poisons) in cigarette smoke.
The epinephrine released by smoking creates increased physiological stress rather than relaxation.
Almost 90% of adult smokers began at or before age 18.
33,000 Maine kids under 18 will ultimately die prematurely from smoking. In Maine, one out of five high school students smoke.
Smoking harms nearly every organ of your body, causing many diseases and reducing your health in general.

www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sgr/sgr_2004/sgranimation/flash/index.html

Marijuana is about 10 times more potent today than it was in the 1960-70’s.
More than 30% of Maine high school students have tried marijuana at least once.
Marijuana is often cut with fillers; therefore users do not always know what they are smoking.
THC, the active chemical in marijuana, stays in the body for 1-3 months stored in the brain, testes, ovaries and other fatty organs.
The drug Ecstasy can cause dehydration, anxiety and exhaustion, and can lead to kidney failure.
Research shows that a person who smokes five joints a week inhales as many cancer-causing chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes a day.