Close to 90,000 children and teens aged 12 to 17 are in treatment for alcohol or drug abuse, says a government survey, while every day, way over a million are smoking cigarettes or marijuana or drinking alcohol or abusing a host of other dangerous and addictive substances. The future for some of these kids, if they live long enough, will surely include a stint in drug rehab.



On any day, says the latest report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), nearly 1.2 million teenagers smoke cigarettes, 631,000 drink alcohol, and 586,000 smoke marijuana. If you think the cigarette thing isn’t such a big deal and doesn’t belong in this study, another study found that kids who smoke cigarettes are more likely to try and become addicted to alcohol and drugs, which can mean drug rehab, as well as all kinds of legal and health problems.

This is even more true for marijuana, a proven “gateway" drug for more addictive and dangerous drugs that will require drug rehab to overcome. Although it is considered “non-addictive", it is most definitely habit-forming, interrupting the normal progress of mental and emotional growth, and often causing problems with schoolwork, sports, and personal and family relationships. For these reasons, there are thousands of kids already in drug rehab for marijuana – kids who were not forced into it, but chose drug rehab voluntarily.

Meanwhile, there are something like 18 million alcoholics in the US already, all of whom should be in alcohol rehab but instead are struggling to hang on to their jobs and their families, or just to stay alive. The children of alcoholics are often abused, neglected, or at least negatively influenced about substance abuse, and are more likely themselves to wind up with alcohol addictions and in alcohol and drug rehab programs.

The SAMHSA study also reveals that 50,000 kids breathe in deadly inhalants on a daily basis, such as spray paints or household aerosol cleaners, trying to get high. Dozens and dozens of these kids are badly injured or die every year from this deadly pastime, and every one who tries it is risking a horrible death.

Another 27,000 kids use hallucinogens every day, 13,000 use cocaine, and 3,800 use heroin – one of the most dangerously addictive opiates there is. Opiate prescription drugs like OxyContin and Vicodin are every bit as addictive as heroin. OxyContin is even more deadly than heroin because of how it’s usually ingested by abusers - crushing the tablet by-passes the time-release structure, and then snorting it all at once causes a huge dose of opiates to instantly attack the body and brain. OxyContin invites a fatal overdose and drug rehab centers everywhere are busy trying to handle OxyContin addiction on a daily basis.

First-time statistics from the SAMHSA study are pretty scary too. One any given day:

* Nearly 8,000 teens drank alcohol for the first time

*4,300 used an illicit drug for the first time

*4,000 smoked cigarettes for the first time

* 3,600 used marijuana for the first time

* 2,500 abused pain relievers for the first time.

Parents, you can do something about keeping your kids from becoming one of these statistics by simply talking to them, regularly and honestly, about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. If you really pay attention to them, ask, get answers, and above all be loving but firm, you will save your kids before they become addicted, arrested, injured or killed, or headed for an alcohol and drug rehab program.