Teen substance abuse is a countrywide epidemic in the United States. Every day there are kids who take drugs, kids who are rumored to take drugs, and kids who are pressured to take drugs. Some of these kids are successful in their academic and personal lives, and some of them aren’t. The topic of drugs and kids involved in drugs brings up a huge concern. This is important to talk about because people need to know how illicit substances affect adolescents, and if using these substances too early is detrimental to brain and body development. The thing with drugs in the United States is that they’re pretty easy to obtain, CBS News states that 81% of teens have access to illicit substances and 42.5% actually tried them (CBS News, p.1). Educating teenagers on the dangers of illicit substance abuse as a public health problem early on should be a major goal for health facilitators at schools. Most cases of addiction begin in adolescence, so educating kids on the dangers of addiction is the goal of this research paper. Adolescents need to know what they are getting themselves into before they become involved or even think about becoming involved with illicit substance abuse. The United States Education system should be held responsible to provide effective public health strategies to prevent the start of illicit substance abuse. Due to the fact that the decision center of the adolescent brain hasn’t fully formed by high school, schools should have mandatory and routine screenings to identify teens most at risk. The goal is early intervention, in order to prevent substance use and the consequences of taking illicit substances kids need to be educated on the types of decisions they are making. Not only is early intervention important, but giving teens who already have substance use disorders the appropriate medical treatment they need. Taking illicit substances at a young age is detrimental to the brain and body, and kids need to know how their decisions dictate their futures. The audience that would benefit the most from reading this paper would be kids aged 12-18. The decisions they make at this age will carry with them throughout their lives. Especially if their decisions lead to criminal stints like drunk driving, theft, and vandalism. “Of the 2.4 million juvenile arrests in 2014, 1.9 million dealt with substance problems”(Teen Rehab Center, p.6). That means that over one and a half of all juvenile arrests were because of substance abuse. These charges can’t just be wiped from a permanent criminal record, they stay with you forever. There are so many long and short-term risks to taking illicit drugs, but in reference to academic success drug abuse is directly linked to lower grades, low chance of high school and college graduation, and even a lower satisfaction with life.