Data and Statistics
Alcohol
- Excessive alcohol use among young adults is associated with brain damage, intellectual impairment, and memory problems.
- Underage drinking cost the citizens of the Georgia $1.4 billion in 2010. These costs include medical care, work loss, and pain and suffering associated with the multiple problems resulting from the use of alcohol by youth.
- The average age of onset (age of first drink of alcohol) of Atlanta Public School students is 12 years old.
- High school students who use alcohol or other substances are five times more likely to drop out of school.
- Alcohol is use more than any other drug by Atlanta youth; nationally alcohol results in more deaths than all other illegal drugs combined.
- 32% of incarcerated teens were drunk at the time of their crime and/or arrest.
Tobacco
- Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death, killing more than 480,000 in the U.S. each year.*
- More than 3,000 kids try their first cigarette every day.*
- There is no safe level of secondhand smoke.
- The incidence rate of lung cancer among NH black males in Georgia is 95 per 100,000 (748 annually).*
- The lung cancer incidence rate among NH black females is 43 per 100,000 (506 annually).*
- The overall smoking prevalence in Georgia is highest among young adults aged 18 to 24 years (25%; 24,000).*
- In Georgia 19.0% of high school males and 12.2% of females have tried and electronic cigarette.*
*Data provided by Campaign For Tobacco Free Kids and the Georgia Tobacco Use Prevention Program