The Internet Is Overrun With Images of Child Sexual Abuse What Went Wrong? The New York Times

Teens are enthusiastic about these programs, which experts often call “Just Say Know” to contrast them with the traditional “Just Say No” approach. In one pilot study, 94% of students said a “Just Say Know” program provided helpful information and 92% said it might influence their approach to substance use (Meredith, L. R., et al., The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, Vol. 47, No. 1, 2021). The study also points to the need to incorporate culturally-informed approaches in prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction services, and to dismantle racial and ethnic inequities in access to these services. It also found that nicotine vaping in high school seniors declined during the pandemic, along with declines in perceived availability of vaping devices at this time. These results challenge the idea that reducing adolescent use of drugs can be achieved solely by limiting their supply. However, researchers detected shifts in the drugs used, with alcohol use declining and use of nicotine products and misuse of prescription medications increasing.

Annual National Report

While that approach, which incorporates principles of harm reduction, is not universally accepted, evidence is growing for its ability to protect youth from accidental overdoses and other consequences of substance use, including addiction, justice involvement, and problems at school. Psychologists have been a key part of the effort to create, test, and administer developmentally appropriate, evidence-based programs that approach prevention in a holistic, nonstigmatizing way. During July 2019–December 2021, among 2,231 adolescent overdose decedents in 47 jurisdictions with available data, more than two thirds (69.0%) were male, and a majority (59.9%) were non-Hispanic White persons (Table).

Delta-8-THC use reported by 11% of 12th graders in 2023

The intervention can be customized to the needs of a given community (in one trial, drag racing outstripped substance use as the most problematic thrill-seeking behavior). In several randomized controlled trials of PreVenture, adolescents who completed the program started using substances later than peers who did not receive the intervention and faced fewer alcohol-related harms (Newton, N. C., et al., JAMA Network Open, Vol. 5, No. 11, 2022). The program has also been shown to reduce the likelihood that adolescents will experiment with illicit substances, which relates to the current overdose crisis in North America, Conrod said (Archives of General Psychiatry, Vol. 67, No. 1, 2010).

• They’re also working on custom curricula for high-risk groups, including sexual and gender minorities.
• Jurisdictions were included if data were available for at least one 6-month period (July–December 2019, January–June 2020, July–December 2020, January–June 2021, or July–December 2021).
• If the estimate is shown as the “Total Population” on the row, then that estimate is usually included as a reference.
• The surge in criminal activity on the dark web accounted for only a fraction of the 18.4 million reports of abuse last year.

An Explosion in Online Child Sexual Abuse: What You Need to Know

All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. Teenagers in Wyoming are 5.08% more likely to have used drugs in the last month than the average American teen. Teenagers in Wisconsin are 0.05% more likely to have used drugs in the last month than the average American teen. Teenagers in West Virginia are 5.43% more likely to have used drugs in the last month than the average American teen. Teenagers in Washington are 33.36% more likely to have used drugs in the last month than the average American teen. Teenagers in Virginia are 16.46% less likely to have used drugs in the last month than the average American teen.

Most tech companies have been quick to respond to urgent inquiries, but responses in other cases vary significantly. In interviews, law enforcement officials pointed to Tumblr, a blogging and social networking site with 470 million users, as one of the most problematic companies. In a particularly disturbing trend, online groups are devoting themselves to sharing images of younger children teen drug abuse and more extreme forms of abuse. The groups use encrypted technologies and the dark web, the vast underbelly of the internet, to teach pedophiles how to carry out the crimes and how to record and share images of the abuse worldwide. In some online forums, children are forced to hold up signs with the name of the group or other identifying information to prove the images are fresh.

Motivating young people

The study was a collaborative effort led by researchers at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While the imagery is often defined as “child pornography” in state and federal laws, experts prefer terms like child sexual abuse imagery or child exploitation material to underscore the seriousness of the crimes and to avoid conflating it with adult pornography, which is legal for people over 18. And when tech companies cooperate fully, encryption and anonymization can create digital hiding places for perpetrators. Facebook announced in March plans to encrypt Messenger, which last year was responsible for nearly 12 million of the 18.4 million worldwide reports of child sexual abuse material, according to people familiar with the reports. Reports to the authorities typically contain more than one image, and last year encompassed the record 45 million photos and videos, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The Monitoring the Future survey is given annually to students in eighth, 10th, and 12th grades who self-report their substance use behaviors over various time periods, such as past 30 days, past 12 months, and lifetime.

NSDUH Frequently Asked Questions

Alicia Kozakiewicz, who was abducted by a man she had met on the internet when she was 13, said the lack of follow-through was disheartening. Now an advocate for laws preventing crimes against children, she had testified in support of the 2008 legislation. Lastly, people who start drinking earlier in life have a higher risk of developing alcohol use disorder later in life. Ultimately, taking a step back to keep the larger goals in focus—as well as staying dedicated to prevention and intervention approaches backed by science—is what will help keep young people healthy and safe, Weiner said.

Table Presentation

• Teenagers in Vermont are 75.83% more likely to have used drugs in the last month than the average American teen.
• Other schools with less reported substance use might benefit more from a primary prevention-style program.
• Teenagers in Maryland are 1.71% less likely to have used drugs in the last month than the average American teen.
• The resources on this webpage cover a variety of drug-related issues, including information on drug use, emergency room data, prevention and treatment programs, and other research findings.
• In interviews, victims across the United States described in heart-wrenching detail how their lives had been upended by the abuse.
• Congress has regularly allocated about half of the $60 million in yearly funding for state and local law enforcement efforts.