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The Scourge of “Drugged Driving” Among American Youth

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The Scourge of “Drugged Driving” Among American Youth

/There are seemingly endless reasons for the importance of young adult treatment in North Carolina. One reason that may not receive the emphasis that it deserves, is ‘drugged driving’. Deaths among young people can be largely attributed to car crashes which often occur to at least some degree due to drug and/or alcohol use.

Driving after the use of illicit drugs or drinking of alcohol sadly remains all too prevalent among United States high school seniors and college students, who risk great harm to both themselves and others as a result. Many other young adults put themselves at risk by riding in a vehicle helmed by an intoxicated driver.

Various damning statistics have emerged that demonstrate the scourge of ‘drugged driving’ among young adults across North Carolina and the wider U.S. Of the 32 million people across the country who drove after using alcohol or drugs in 2012, for example, it was those in the 18-25 year old age category who were most strongly represented.

Indeed, it was revealed in late 2014 that 22 percent of those aged between 18 and 25 had driven under the influence of illicit drugs or alcohol over the past year, compared to 12 percent of those aged at least 26 and three percent of 12-17 year olds.

Driving after marijuana use may be a cause for even greater concern among parents and guardians who have considered the merits of young adult treatment in North Carolina for their loved one. Almost one in three college students drove after marijuana use and nearly half of them rode with a driver who had been using marijuana, according to one infographic recently published by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

The equivalent figures for high school seniors gave little extra cause for encouragement – one in eight of them driving after marijuana use and one in five riding with a driver who had been using the drug. These are more shocking figures that demonstrate the vital role that can be played by clinically dynamic treatment that has been suitably tailored to the very specific drug abuse issues affecting American young adults.