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NCADD In the News
This Letter to the Editor appeared in USA Today on Monday, January 21, 2002 in response to a January 14, 2002 Life section article entitled, "Harry's Drug revelations Get Royal Treatment from Press"
Tough Love Helps Teens
Good for Britain's Prince Charles for recognizing that Prince Harry's early drinking and drug use can't be excused or ignored.
Unlike too many parents who are afraid of confronting their teens, Prince Charles gave his then-16-year-old son Harry a cold dose of reality by introducing him to to those struggling to overcome their addictions.
Early parental intervention is a way to detour a teen from what might become a lifelong struggle with alcohol or drugs.
Forty percent of children who begin using alcohol before age 13 will become alcoholics at some point in their lives.
In the United States, nearly 3 million 14- to 17-year-olds are regular drinkers with confirmed alcohol problems.
If the onset of drinking is delayed by only five years, a youth's risk of developing serious alcohol problems is decreased by 50%.
Alcohol is a powerful mood-altering drug that affects children's developing hormonal systems and interferes with physical and psychological develpoment.
developmenteads to risky behavior such as crime and sex and drug experimentation, and it leads to fatal car accidents.
The greatest gift that parents can give a child is to care enough to stop him or her from starting on this road to self-destruction.
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Stacia Murphy, President
National Council on Alcoholism
and Drug Dependence
New York, N.Y. |
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For additional information on this letter to the editor, contact the director of communications at communications@ncadd.org.
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National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.
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244 East 58th Street, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10022
phone: 212/269-7797 fax: 212/269-7510
email: national@ncadd.org http://www.ncadd.org
HOPE LINE: 800/NCA-CALL (24-hour Affiliate referral)
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