WHAT’S AT STAKE

  • Teen Brain

    Teen Brain Drugs and alcohol have more permanent and lasting effects on the teenage brain. Even short-term use can interfere with your ability to learn and remember...read more

  • Alcohol

    Alcohol There’s a good reason that the drinking age is 21 – your brain is still undergoing important development and alcohol interferes with this development...read more

  • Marijuana

    Marijuana Using marijuana can actually change the structure of your brain, specifically the areas dealing with memory, learning and problem solving... read more

  • e-Cigarettes & Vapes

    e-Cigarettes & Vapes E-cigs might seem like a safer way to smoke, but the truth is that they contain many of the same harmful chemicals found in deadly cigarettes – including nicotine...read more

  • Tobacco

    Tobacco The younger you start using tobacco in cigarettes or vapes – the more likely you will become addicted. Actually 3 out of 4 teens who smoke will become adult smokers...read more

  • Prescription Safety

    Prescription Safety Some teens start misusing prescription drugs to deal with the stress & anxiety that young adult life brings because they think they’re somehow safer than other drugs...read more

THE FACTS

Most of your classmates drink and smoke, right? Well, not so fast. Alcohol and drugs are everywhere: they’re on billboards, in the books and magazines you read, in the shows and movies you watch, and possibly in your social media feeds. This can make it seem like all the kids in your school are drinking and smoking.

The fact is: Most of your classmates do not drink or smoke on a regular basis. This has been confirmed year after year by the California Healthy Kids Survey, and the most recent survey on high school students in South OC reveals that:

82% did not drink alcohol in the past 30 days
85% did not use marijuana in the past 30 days
80% did not use vapes/e-cigs in the past 30 days

We know these figures may be hard to believe and you may be thinking, “Wait a minute. There’s no way this is true! I’m positive kids are drinking and smoking more than that!” Well, this is precisely the perception that leads most teens to believe that most of the students at their school are using alcohol and drugs. Fortunately, we don’t need to rely on our perceptions when we have an anonymous and confidential survey of 82,000 students in California.