More Teens are Choosing NOT to Smoke and Drink

In Illinois, tobacco use claimed over 18,000 lives and cost the state $5.5 billion in health care bills last year. Approximately 20.1 million packs of cigarettes will be smoked by kids under the age of 18 in Illinois this year (Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids).

Despite the alarming statistics, tobacco use among teens has been steadily declining over the last 40 years.

In 2014, 34% of 12th graders reported they had tried a cigarette at least once in their lifetime, compared to 74% in 1975. Daily cigarette use dropped from 27% to 7% over the same period of time (Monitoring the Future, U.S. Statistics).

Alcohol use has seen a similar trend.

In 2014, about 38% of 12th graders reported drinking alcohol within the last 30 days, compared to 67% in 1975. Binge drinking dropped from about 36% to 20% over the same period of time (Monitoring the Future, U.S. Statistics).

These trends are encouraging, but it’s important to continue to remind teens of the dangers of drinking alcohol and using cigarettes.

Adolescence is a critical period for the onset of substance use and its potentially debilitating consequences for two reasons...

1. The regions of the brain that are critical to decision making, judgment, impulse control, emotion and memory are not yet fully developed in adolescence, making teens more prone than adults to taking risks, including experimenting with alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.
2. Because the teen brain is still developing, addictive substances physically alter its structure and function faster and more intensely than in adults, interfering with brain development, further impairing judgment and heightening the risk of addiction.

Help your teens make the right choice... to be healthy!

Click here for more information on the effects of Alcohol

Click here for more information on the effects of Tobacco

If you or someone you know has a problem with alcohol or other drugs, call 888.928.5278