Daily HealthBeat Tip - November 19, 2007

On an average day

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

On any given day, nearly 1.2 million teenagers smoke, 631,000 drink, and 586,000 use marijuana. These figures come from a report called ``A Day in the Life of American Adolescents,’’ from HHS’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

SAMHSA officials say that, despite declines in illicit drug use among teens from 2002 through 2006, significant problems still exist. Dr. Westley Clark:

``The scope of this public health problem remains significant – especially when one considers not only the adolescents engaging in substance abuse, but the friends and families who are affected by this as well.’’ (11 seconds)

Clark points out that help is available for these teens. For instance, on that average day, more than 76,000 teens are in outpatient treatment.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May, 26 2008