The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) recently reported that an alarming 27 percent of U.S. students currently attend public schools that have gangs and drugs.
According to the annual back-to-school survey, one-third of middle school children say that their peers are using drugs - a 39 percent increase since last year. Compared to students in drug-free schools, these individuals are much more likely to drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes or use cocaine and heroin.
"This steady increase in the number of [students] attending drug-infected schools is a trajectory to tragedy for millions of children and families," said CASA founder Joseph Califano. "Placing our teens in an environment where drinking and drugging are common is child abuse by states that are obliged to keep their schools drug-free."
The study examined the association between good family relationships and students' likelihood to drink and use drugs. According to the results, teenagers with weak family ties are four times more likely to try tobacco and marijuana.
Approximately 76 percent of surveyed students said that the drugs could be easily obtained from a friend or classmate, while 30 percent revealed that their parents knew the supplier.
