Just Beer & Cigarettes

“In Missouri, it is illegal for merchants to sell tobacco products of any type to
anyone under the age of 18.”
- Missouri State Statute No. 407.925-407932

“An individual who begins drinking before age 15 is four times more likely to
develop alcohol dependence than someone who waits until age 21 to use alcohol.”
- National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2002

“Approximately 75% of current smokers became addicted to cigarettes before the age of 18.”
- Missouri ASSIST, 1993

“Teens who smoke cigarettes are 17 times more likely to use marijuana, five times more likely to binge drink alcohol and twice as likely to have unprotected sex.”
- Center for Disease Control, 1994

“Among 12 to 17 year-olds with no other problem behaviors, those who drank alcohol and smoked cigarettes at least once in the past month are 30 times more likely to smoke marijuana than those who did not. These correlations are more pronounced for girls than boys. Girls who drank and smoked were 36 times more likely to smoke marijuana and boys were 27 times more likely.”
- National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, Columbia University, 1997

“Smokers are 10 times more likely to develop alcoholism than are nonsmokers.”
- Alcohol Clinical Experimental Research, R.D. Hurt, 1994

“An adolescent may become addicted to alcohol in as little as 6 to 18 months.”
- National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2002

“Seventy percent of teenagers who smoke regret they ever started and 63% of teenage smokers consider themselves to be addicted.”
- Center for Disease Control, 1994

“Nearly 25% of Missouri teens reported being a passenger in a car being driven by someone who had been drinking.”
- Missouri Student Survey, 2004

“Among 12 to 17 year-olds with no other problem behaviors, those who use the three gateway drugs of cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana in the past month, are almost 17 times more likely to use another illicit drug like cocaine, heroin or acid.”
- National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, Columbia University, 1997

“A 16 year-old is more likely to die from a drinking related problem than from any other cause.”
- The Best of IDEA, 1996