Hard Facts about Alcohol and Other Drugs

                                                                                                                                                                   Vol. VIII, No. 2, February 1995

[Reprinted from the Matoaca Baptist Church Messenger, Dr. James N. Birkitt pastor.]

According to the Christian Life Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the following statements are hard facts regarding alcohol and drug abuse which will alarm every parent and every concerned Christian.

* Of the percentage of students who say they are heavy drinkers (drank 5 or more drinks in a row within the last two weeks), 30% are twelfth graders, 23% are tenth graders, and 13% are eighth graders (High School Seniors Survey, National Institute of Drug Abuse).

* About 40,000 babies are born each year with fetal alcohol syndrome, a cause of mental retardation and other disorders (“USA TODAY” 4/1/92).

* According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, In 1991, 51% of people surveyed, aged 18-25, say they have used marijuana (“USA TODAY” 3/30/92).

* Second-hand cigarette smoke killed 37,000 Americans a year as a result of heart disease, 3,700 as a result of lung cancer, and 12,000 as a result of other disorders (“The New York Times”, 11/22/92).

* In a survey of college students in 1992, students who were getting D’s and F’s were averaging nearly 11 drinks a week, while students with A’s were consuming 3.4 drinks (“The New York Times”, 9/20/92).

* Two studies published by the health and Human Services Department in 1990 estimated that at least 260,000 students in grades 7 to 12 use or have used anabolic steroids, the drugs taken by hundreds of thousands of athletes to “build up” their muscles. Use of steroids among “recreational athletes” has boosted the illegal market in these drugs from an estimated $300 to $400 million in a year. (“the Washington Post”, 8/17/91).

* The 1990 Texas School survey for Substance Abuse, conducted by the Texas Commission on Drug and Alcohol Abuse, reported that only one-third of Texas secondary students remained drug-free during the 1990 school year; the remaining two-thirds used either alcohol, inhalants, and/or illegal drugs (“Commerce Journal”, Commerce, Texas, 3/11/92).

* The Centers for Disease Control estimates that nearly 25% of all AIDS cases are from IV drug use (“The Houston Post”, 4/28/92).

* At least 8 million teenagers use alcohol weekly, and a half million binge drink (have more than five drinks in a row) weekly (“USA TODAY”, 9/29/92).

* Among youths aged 12-17 in 1991, 46.4% used alcohol, 37.9% smoked, 13% used marijuana, 4.4% used analgesics, 3.4% used hallucinogens, and 2.4% used cocaine. (“USA TODAY”, 9/29/92).