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Alcohol, tobacco, and drug use are not unique to adolescents, but the effects that these substances may have on youth during this time of crucial development are profound. These resources provide data on teen behaviors regarding alcohol, drug, and tobacco use, as well as sites geared towards parents and teens to prevent the use of these substances.
- AIDS/HIV + Drugs/Alcohol Use Information Resources
National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health
The National Library of Medicine provides a wealth of information related to HIV and AIDS, including interactive tutorials, clinical resources, and breaking news updates regarding HIV prevention initiatives. This site includes a resources page on Living with HIV/AIDS: Illicit Drug and Alcohol Use, an important health issue for HIV positive patients. This site also HIV facts, statistics, and health care resources specifically for the general public, teenagers, providers and health professionals, scientists, and non-English speakers. - Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
The YRBSS reports national surveillance data for youth behaviors in six areas, including alcohol, drug, and tobacco use. Fact sheets and interactive data tables that can be customized by year and subpopulation make this resource particularly useful for grant proposal writing, presentations, and acquiring general information about a variety of trends in youth health behaviors - TeensHealth
TeensHealth website is designed for teenagers and also offers resources for parents. It offers quizzes, a questions and answers section for teens’ most commonly asked health questions, and interactive health activities. Teenhealth.org is a website that providers, health professionals, educators, and parents can refer youth for accurate health information, especially regarding alcohol, drug, and tobacco use. - Today is for Tomorrow
Today is for Tomorrow is a website designed by YTH that provides information, tips, videos, and humorous links regarding a variety of health topics, including alcohol, drug, and tobacco use. Teens have the option of signing up for weekly health tips delivered to their mobile phone and engaging in a Tumblr site that is also part of the Today is for Tomorrow initiative. - Teenage Health Freak
Teenage Health Freak is designed to educate teens about several topics in adolescent health, including reproductive health, alcohol and drug use, and body image. Teenage Health Freak has a platform for teens to submit anonymous health questions that a medical doctor will answer, in addition to health quizzes to test teens’ knowledge about various health topics. - DrugFacts: High School and Youth Trends
National Institute on Drug Abuse; December 2012
The National Institute on Drug Abuse provides data, statistics, and other literature regarding adolescent use of drugs and alcohol. Their website enables users to filter their publications by audience, with options including health professionals, parents, teachers, students, and researchers. - Publications and Research
The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA)
CASA’s website features a number of published reports on various topics within adolescent tobacco and substance use research, including the relationship between family dinners and teen drug use, the risks that tobacco use poses to adolescent brain development, and results of national surveys with adolescent regarding substance use.
Homepage photo by Stuart Richards, Creative Commons on Flickr.
