Smoking, Alcohol Use, and Illicit Drug Use Reported by Adolescents Aged 12–17 years: United States, 1999–2004

Behaviors related to smoking, alcohol use, and illicit drug use during adolescence are of great public health importance because they have been associated with depression, violence, addiction, and other health risks (1–3). A nationwide health promotion and disease prevention agenda for improving the health status of the U.S. population by year 2010 has targeted some of these behaviors (4), and several federal surveys track the prevalence of adolescent health risk behaviors in the
U.S. population (5,6). Regular cigarette
smoking, alcohol use, and illicit drug use by children are also addressed in the report, America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2007