According to alcohol abuse and alcoholism research statistics, 500,000 American youth between the ages of 9 and 12 are dependent on alcohol.  A number of substance abuse studies have demonstrated the fact that far more people are alcohol abusers than alcoholics.

By “doing the math,” we can determine the following: if 500,000 children between the ages of 9 and 12 are alcohol dependent, this means that there are more than 500,000 U.S. alcohol abusers in this same age group.

The U.S. demographics will show that there are more adolescents between the ages of 13 and 19 than there are children between the ages of 9 and 12.  We can conclude, therefore, that significantly more than 500,000 U.S. teenagers are dependent on alcohol.

Plugging in the numbers from the analysis above, we can conclude that more than one million U.S. pre-teens and teenagers are addicted to alcohol. and even more than one million teens and teenagers are alcohol abusers.  In sum, it would appear that youth alcohol abuse AND youth alcohol addiction are widespread societal problems that requires immediate attention from a prevention, education, and treatment perspective.

Many, if not most drug and alcohol addicts would probably prefer to stop abusing drugs and drinking, but following through on this is quite difficult at best and almost impossible at worst without professional treatment.

The alcoholism and substance abuse research literature demonstrates the fact that some people are able to stop abusing drugs and quit drinking entirely on their own without professional rehab.  For most people who involve themselves in alcoholism or drug addiction, however, they need professional addiction rehab if there is any hope for long-term addiction recovery and sobriety.

According to the alcohol abuse research literature, children who are drinking alcohol by the 7th grade are likely to engage in delinquent behavior, substance abuse, and to exhibit academic problems in junior high school and in high school.  When these same teens and pre-teens reach young adulthood, they are likely to exhibit criminal and other violent behavior, employment problems, and engage in even more substance abuse.

Obviously pre-teen alcohol abuse and teenage alcohol abuse are serious problems in our country that need to be addressed by our politicians, our community leaders, our parents, and our social service administrators.

The alcoholism and the substance abuse research literature has shown that drinking alcohol can be hazardous in smaller amounts if it is ingested along with the following drugs:  narcotic pain medications such as Darvocet, Codeine, and Codeine derivatives; anti-seizure medications such as Phenobarbital; sedatives such as tranquilizers and barbiturates; and street drugs such as opium and heroin.

The alcohol abuse and alcoholism research literature shows that alcohol addiction is in part a genetic disease that is commonly accompanied by other substance abuse problems such as antisocial personality disorders, anxiety and mood disorders, smoking and drug abuse.  Alcohol and drug abuse facts and statistics such as these reinforce the theory of the “addictive personality.”

According to the substance abuse research literature, at least 50% of the individuals who are arrested for major crimes including homicide, theft, and assault, were under the influence of illegal drugs at the time of their arrest.

Exactly what does this mean?  Does this mean that the drugs negatively affected the logical thinking ability of the criminals?  From another perspective, does this mean that the drugs provided the extra “nerve” needed by the criminals to do the illegal activity?