Reality Check Sources
Alcohol
In 2006, more than 19% of drivers ages 16 to 20 who died in motor vehicle crashes had been drinking alcohol.
Source: Dept of Transportation (US), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Traffic Safety Facts 2006: Alcohol-Impaired Driving. Washington (DC): NHTSA; 2008 [cited 2008 Oct 22]. Available at URL: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/810801.PDF 
Of the 1,746 traffic fatalities among children ages 0 to 14 years in 2006, about one out of every six (17%) involved an alcohol-impaired driver.
Source: Dept of Transportation (US), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Traffic Safety Facts 2006: Alcohol-Impaired Driving. Washington (DC): NHTSA; 2008 [cited 2008 Oct 22]. Available at URL: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/810801.PDF
The younger you are when you start drinking, the greater your chance of becoming addicted to alcohol at some point in your life. More than 4 in 10 people who begin drinking before age 15 eventually become alcoholics.
Source: NIAAA; Underage Drinking: A Major Public Health Challenge, 2003
People who use both alcohol and drugs also are at risk for dangerous interactions between these substances. For example, a person who uses alcohol with depressants, whether these drugs are prescribed or taken illegally, is at increased risk of fatal poisoning.
Source: NIAAA Alcohol Alert: ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUGS, 2008
Mixing alcohol with certain medications can cause, nausea and vomiting, headaches, drowsiness, fainting, loss of coordination.
Source: NIAAA. Harmful Interactions: Mixing Alcohol with Medicines, 2007
Some medications — including many painkillers and cough, cold, and allergy remedies—contains more than one ingredient that can react with alcohol.
Source: NIAAA. Harmful Interactions: Mixing Alcohol with Medicines, 2007
Depending on the type of medication, mixing with alcohol can cause: increased risk for overdose, fainting, changes in blood pressure, difficulty breathing, liver damage, stomach bleeding, blood clots, strokes, heart attacks, increased risk of seizures, death.
Source: NIAAA. Harmful Interactions: Mixing Alcohol with Medicines, 2007
Combing alcohol with anti-depressant and anti-anxiety medications can cause: increased risk of overdose, increased feelings of depression or hopelessness, and suicide in adolescents.
Source: NIAAA. Harmful Interactions: Mixing Alcohol with Medicines, 2007
Cocaine
Cocaine can kill you the first time you use it.
Source: NIDA InfoFacts: Crack and Cocaine, 2008
Cocaine and crack cocaine are highly addictive.
Source: NIDA InfoFacts: Crack and Cocaine, 2008
Regular cocaine and crack users can become paranoid.
Source: NIDA InfoFacts: Crack and Cocaine, 2008
Regularly snorting cocaine can lead to loss of sense of smell, nosebleeds, problems with swallowing, hoarseness, and a chronically runny nose.
Source: NIDA InfoFacts: Crack and Cocaine, 2008
Mixing alcohol and cocaine is the most common cause of drug-combination related deaths.
Source: NIDA InfoFacts: Crack and Cocaine, 2008
Cocaine can cause heart attacks even in young abusers.
Source: NIDA InfoFacts: Crack and Cocaine, 2008
GHB
GHB affects your self-control. It has been used in "date rape" and other assaults because it is a tasteless, odorless substance that can be unknowingly ingested and causes amnesia.
Source: SAMHSA Substance Abuse Treatment Advisory: GHB: A Club Drug to Watch, 2002
GHB can cause people to lose consciousness.
Source: SAMHSA Substance Abuse Treatment Advisory: GHB: A Club Drug to Watch, 2002
GHB withdrawal symptoms include anxiety, tremors, sweating, and sleeplessness.
Source: NIDA InfoFacts: Club Drugs (GHB, Ketamine, and Rohypnol), 2008
Different amounts of GHB have different effects on people. In other words, no amount is safe.
Source: SAMHSA Substance Abuse Treatment Advisory: GHB: A Club Drug to Watch, 2002
Hallucinogens
LSD is manufactured from lysergic acid, which is found in ergot, a fungus that grows on rye and other grains.
Source: NIDA InfoFacts: Hallucinogens - LSD, Peyote, Psilocybin, and PCP, 2008
Originally manufactured as an IV anesthetic in 1950, PCP use in humans was discontinued because of its intensely negative psychological effects.
Source: NIDA InfoFacts: Hallucinogens - LSD, Peyote, Psilocybin, and PCP, 2008
LSD users can also experience flashbacks, which are when the original drug's effects suddenly reoccur up to a year after the initial use. Because flashbacks can occur without warning, they can cause significant distress or impairment, especially if this occurs in an uncomfortable or dangerous setting such as at work, school, or while driving.
Source: NIDA InfoFacts: Hallucinogens - LSD, Peyote, Psilocybin, and PCP, 2008
Some LSD users experience severe, terrifying thoughts and feelings of despair, fear of losing control, or fear of insanity and death while using LSD.
Source: NIDA InfoFacts: Hallucinogens - LSD, Peyote, Psilocybin, and PCP, 2008
PCP is addictive — its repeated abuse can lead to craving and compulsive PCP-seeking behavior, despite severe adverse consequences.
Source: NIDA InfoFacts: Hallucinogens - LSD, Peyote, Psilocybin, and PCP, 2008
Heroin
PCP is addictive — its repeated abuse can lead to craving and compulsive PCP-seeking behavior, despite severe adverse consequences.
Source: NIDA: Drugs of Abuse: Heroin, 2008
Heroin abuse is associated with serious health conditions including HIV/AIDS and hepatitis, particularly in users who inject the drug.
Source: NIDA. InfoFacts: Heroin, 2008
The alternately awake and drowsy state that heroin users experience while taking the drug is referred to as "on the nod." Mental functioning becomes clouded.
Source: NIDA. InfoFacts: Heroin, 2008
Heroin withdrawal may occur within a few hours after the last time the drug is taken. Symptoms of withdrawal include restlessness, muscle and bone pain, insomnia, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps ("cold turkey"), and involuntary leg movements.
Source: NIDA. Research Report Series: Heroine Abuse and Addictions, 2005
Inhalants
Inhalants can kill you the very first time you use them.
Source: SAMHSA Tips for Teens: Inhalants, 2002
Chemicals like amyl nitrate and isobutyl nitrate ("poppers"), and nitrous oxide ("whippets") are sometimes sold at concerts and dance clubs. They can permanently damage your body and brain even if you try it only one time.
Source: SAMHSA Tips for Teens: Inhalants, 2002
Chronic inhalant abusers may permanently lose the ability to perform everyday functions like walking, talking, and thinking.
Source: SAMHSA Tips for Teens: Inhalants, 2002
"Huffing" concentrated amounts of chemicals from paint and gas can directly induce heart failure and death. Long term effects of chronic abuse include brain, liver, and kidney damage.
Source: NIDA InfoFacts: Inhalants, 2008
Research shows that inhalant use is associated with symptoms of depression. Research has shown that depressed teens are more than three times as likely to start using inhalants than teens with no symptoms of depression.
Source: The NSDUH Report: Inhalant Use and Major Depressive Episode among Youths Aged 12 to 17: 2004 to 2006. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 2008
Among youths aged 12-17 who used inhalants and had also experienced depression in the past year, 28 percent used inhalants before their depression started and 29 percent started using inhalants at the same time as their depression began.
Source: The NSDUH Report: Inhalant Use and Major Depressive Episode among Youths Aged 12 to 17: 2004 to 2006. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 2008
Marijuana
Marijuana is addictive. More teens are in treatment with a primary diagnosis of marijuana dependence than for all other illicit drugs combined.
Source: Treatment Episodes Data Set (TEDS) 1992-2002, SAMHSA, 2006
Young people who use marijuana weekly have double the risk of depression later in life.
Source: Patton, GC et al. "Cannabis use and mental health in young people: cohort study." British Medical Journal, 325: 1195–1198, 2002
Heavy Marijuana users are more likely than non-users to be diagnosed with schizophrenia later in life. A recent study found that people who had used marijuana more than 50 times before the age of 18, had a three fold increased risk of developing schizophrenia later in life.
Source: Zammit, S et al., "Self-reported cannabis use as a risk factor for schizophrenia in Swedish conscripts of 1969: historical cohort study," British Medical Journal, 325:1199-1201, 2002
Arseneault L, et al., "Cannabis use in adolescence and risk for adult psychosis: longitudinal prospective study," British Medical Journal, 325:1212-1213, 2002
Weed can cause increased heart rate and make some users extremely anxious or paranoid.
Source: NIDA. Marijuana: Facts for Teens, 2008
Heavy marijuana use impairs young people's ability to concentrate and retain information.
Source: Pope HG et al., "Early-onset cannabis use and cognitive deficits: what is the nature of the association?" Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 69(3): 303-310, 2003.
The short-term effects of marijuana can include problems with memory and learning.
Source: NIDA. Marijuana: Facts for Teens, 2008
Meth
Meth can kill you by causing overheating, convulsions, and coma.
Source: NIDA InfoFacts: Methamphetamine, 2008
Meth users may have cracked or deteriorating teeth that must be extracted. This is often caused by a combination of xerostomia (dry mouth), extended periods of poor oral hygiene, frequent consumption of high calorie, carbonated beverages and tooth grinding and clenching. Some reports have also speculated that the acidic nature of the drug is a contributing factor.
Source: Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR), University of Maryland, 2002
Meth can cause a severe "crash" after the effects wear off.
Source: SAMHSA Tips for Teens: Methamphetamine, 2004
Meth can damage blood vessels in the brain leading to strokes (which can produce irreversible damage).
Source: SAMHSA Tips for Teens: Methamphetamine, 2004
Meth can be made from readily available ingredients like battery acid, drain cleaner, lantern fuel, and antifreeze.
Source: SAMHSA Tips for Teens: Methamphetamine, 2004
Prescription Drugs
Unintentional drug poisoning death rates increased substantially in the United States during 1999-2004. This increase can primarily be attributed to increasing numbers of deaths associated with prescription opioids (which are types of painkillers such as OxyContin and Vicodin).
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Unintentional Poisoning Deaths --- United States, 1999 - 2004," 2007.
More than 29 percent of teens in treatment are dependent on tranquilizers, sedatives, amphetamines, and other stimulants (all types of prescription drugs).
Source: SAMHSA: Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions by Primary Substance of Abuse According to Sex, Age Group, Race, and Ethnicity." Treatment Episode Data Set; 2004
Painkillers, such as Vicodin and OxyContin, are opiates and are very powerful medications that need to be taken under the close supervision of a doctor. These medications, when taken inappropriately, can cause addiction because they impact the same areas of the brain as heroin.
Source: NIDA. Increased Abuse of Prescription Drugs is Cause for Concern, 2007
Abusing prescription drugs for the first time before age 16 leads to a greater risk of dependence later in life.
Source: SAMHSA."Misuse of Prescription Drugs." National Surveys on Drug Use and Health; 2006 Treatment Episode Data Set; 2004
Unintentional poisoning deaths involving psychotherapeutic drugs, such as sedative-hypnotics and anti-depressants, grew 84 percent from 1999 to 2004.
Source: SAMHSA:Centers for Disease Control (CDC). 2007. Unintentional Poisoning Deaths, United States, 1999-2004. February 9, 2007
Between 1995 and 2005, treatment admissions for dependence on prescription painkillers grew more than 300 percent.
Source: Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS). 2007. Treatment Episode Data Set, 1995 to 2005. National Admissions to Substance Abuse Treatment Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
OTC Drugs
At levels above the recommended dosage, DXM (the main ingredient in many cough syrups) is a dangerous dissociative drug like PCP (angel dust) and ketamine (animal tranquilizer).
Source: Bryner, Jodi K., PharmD et all. “Dextromethorphan Abuse in Adolescence: An Increasing Trend: 1999-2004.” Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine: VOL 160; December 2006.
Some cough syrups that contain DXM often also contain decongestants, which when abused, can cause hypoxic brain damage (not getting enough oxygen to the brain), due to the combination of DXM with decongestants.
Source: NIDA. NIDA InfoFacts: Prescription and Over-the-Counter Medications, 2008.
DXM-based cough remedies contain many other ingredients that, when taken in excessive dosages, can cause serious health effects such as liver damage due to toxic side effects of those other ingredients.
Source: Indiana University. Indiana Prevention Resource Center Factline, 2004.
Overdoses of acetaminophen, an analgesic pain killer found in DXM-based remedies, reportedly cause more than 56,000 emergency room visits a year.
Source: Indiana University. Indiana Prevention Resource Center Factline, 2004.
Cough syrup is not the only kind of over-the-counter medication (OTC) that is dangerous. Over-the-counter drug abuse also occurs with laxatives, diuretics, emetics, and diet pills, which are abused to lose weight. Ephedrine, caffeine, and phenylpropranolamine are just some of the dangerous substances found in diet pills. All of these substances act as stimulants to the central nervous system and can have serious and potentially fatal side effects.
Source: National Center on Addiction and Substance Use at Columbia University [CASA]. (2003). Formative years: Pathways to substance abuse among girls and young women ages 8-22. New York, NY. .
Many over-the-counter (OTC) medications as well as herbal remedies can have harmful effects when combined with alcohol.
Source: NIAAA. Harmful Interactions: Mixing Alcohol with Medicines, 2007.
Rohypnol
Because it has no taste or smell, Rohypnol can be put into your drink without you knowing it.
Source: NIDA: Club Drugs Aren't Fun Drugs, 2005.
Rohypnol may cause individuals under the influence of the drug to forget what happened. Other effects include low blood pressure, drowsiness, dizziness, confusion, and upset stomach.
Source: NIDA: Club Drugs Aren't Fun Drugs, 2005.
Rohypnol has been used to facilitate date rape. It can be colorless, tasteless, and odorless, and can be added to beverages and ingested unbeknownst to the victim. When mixed with alcohol, Rohypnol can incapacitate victims and prevent them from resisting sexual assault.
Source: NIDA InfoFacts: Club Drugs (GHB, Ketamine, and Rohypnol), 2008.
Steroids
Steroids can stop growth prematurely and permanently in teenagers.
Source: NIDA. Steroids (Anabolic), 2008 .
Steroids can make guys grow breasts and girls grow beards.
Source: NIDA for Teens: Anabolic Steroids, 2003.
Steroids have disfiguring effects — severe acne, greasy hair, and baldness (in both guys and girls).
Source: NIDA for Teens: Anabolic Steroids, 2003.
Some rare "side effects" of steroid use include liver tumors and cancer, jaundice, fluid retention, high blood pressure, kidney tumors, and trembling.
Source: NIDA InfoFacts: Steroids (Anabolic-Androgenic), 2008.
Steroid abusers may also develop a rare condition called peliosis hepatic, in which blood-filled cysts appear on the liver. Both the tumors and cysts can rupture and cause internal bleeding.
Source: NIDA for Teens: Anabolic Steroids, 2003.