A recent study conducted by Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) revealed that 9 out of 10 Americans who are medically addicted to substances began using them before age 18. One out of 4 Americans who began using before 18 are addicted, compared to 1 in 25 who begin at 21. The study [pdf] claims that adolescent substance abuse is "America's #1 Public Health Problem" because the "costs to federal, state and local governments of substance abuse, which has its roots in adolescence, are at least $468 billion per year."

Given that many health problems stem from adolescence (obesity, mental health issues, etc.) it seems well-meaning but suspect to declare that adolescent substance abuse is to blame for the bloated monetary and societal costs of addiction. Perhaps the moral is that prevention is key in any circumstance, and CASA studies have stressed that we spend far too little on prevention.

Susan Foster, a VP at CASA, says in a press release, "The problem is not that we don't know what to do, it's that we are failing to act. It is time to recognize teen substance use as a preventable public health problem…and respond to it as fiercely as we would any other public health epidemic." In addition to "educating the public" about the problem, CASA recommends "identifying teens most at risk through routine screenings." To CASA, "screenings" mean "drug screening by medical professionals, using a set of questions about substance use and its consequences;" not drug tests, which studies, including one by Harvard Medical School, have concluded that research has "not yet shown drug testing to be an effective deterrent, and research has identified risks associated with implementation."

This hasn't stopped one Harlem father, who has "randomly drug-tested his teenage daughters since they each reached the age of 12." Neither child has ever failed a test, and the father tells the Daily News, "I consider my wife and I very lucky. We always kept them close, and it worked." To paraphrase another famous father: "It's better to be feared than loved."