o 25, and by 18.7 percent of those aged 21. About 10.9 million persons aged between 12 and 20 years reported drinking alcohol in the month prior to the survey, with nearly 7.2 million being binge drinkers, and 2.3 million being heavy drinkers.
These figures are alarming, considering 34.9 percent of youth aged between 12 and 17 years reported that smoking marijuana once a month was a great risk; 53.6 percent of youth said it would be easy to obtain marijuana; and 89.4 percent of youths reported that their parents would strongly disapprove of their trying marijuana once or twice (1). An estimated 21.6 million Americans in 2003 were classified with substance dependence, of whom 3.1 million abused both alcohol and illicit drugs, 3.8 million abused illicit drugs alone, and 14.
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