SOURCE: Illinois Drug Education Alliance

Drinking and driving is not the only alcohol-related offense. It is also illegal to transport alcoholic beverages in the passenger area of a vehicle unless the beverages are in their original sealed containers. No matter whom the alcohol belongs to, everyone in the vehicle can be charged with illegal transportation.

Although not all drunk driving crashes involve alcoholics, a significant number do. Unfortunately, many people don't realize they have a drinking problem until something tragic happens. If you think you or someone you know has a drinking problem, look for help. There are many programs available to help, such as:
Alcoholics Anonymous
Group therapy
Inpatient and outpatient treatment centers
Family therapy (Al-Anon, Alateen)
Counseling
Employee assistance programs.

Study findings suggest that women metabolize alcohol less efficiently than men, a difference that leads to higher blood alcohol concentrations in women over a shorter period of time. This difference may make women more vulnerable than men to alcohol - induced liver damage. (NIAAA, 8th Special Report, ip.cit., p. xxvi)

· Almost half of all women age 15-44 have used drugs at least once in their life. · More than 600,000 women have used cocaine in their life. · More than 5.6 million women have used marijuana in their life. · More than 3.7 million women have taken prescription drugs non-medically during the past year. · More than 28,000 (70%) of the AIDS cases among women are drug-related. No community is immune to the effects of drug abuse. However, drug abuse treatment for women represents a profitable community solution to the problem. Women who complete treatment and get off drugs can stay sober with the help of their family, friends, and employers. Education, counseling, and awareness programs help women to build better lives and return to their families or jobs.
-Information taken from National Institute on Drug Abuse

Alcohol Consumption Rates Among Women:
44% of females ages 12 or older report current (past month) alcohol use; 8.7% are binge drinkers (defined as 5 or more drinks on the same occasion at least once in the past month)
Current use of alcohol is highest among women ages 26 to 34; binge and heavy drinking are highest among 18 to 25 year-olds.
Never-married, divorced and separated women generally have the highest rates of heavy drinking and drinking related problems; widowed women, the lowest rates, and married women, intermediate rates.

Police Chiefs Cite Drug Abuse as Most Serious Problem Facing Their Community According to the results of a recent national survey, the majority of police chiefs across the nation (58%) consider drug abuse to be a more serious problem in their communities than domestic violence, property crimes, or violent crimes. Further, 82% of police chiefs in large cities (with a population in excess of 100,000) cited drug abuse as an extremely or quite serious problem.

Heroin use is on the rise. Because the average street purity has skyrocketed since 1980, sniffing and smoking heroin has opened the door to a new pool of potential users who would never have otherwise considered trying heroin. Experts in the field of heroin addiction and treatment agree that we're facing a potential catastrophe of increased heroin usage (DASA Fact Sheet).

Over 2,200 deaths among Illinois residents each year can be attributed either directly or indirectly to the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. ATODA - related deaths in Illinois annually account for 350,000 years of potential life lost and $3 billion in economic costs.
Source: DASA 1994 Social Indicator Study

Each year, nearly half a million Americans die from alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs, making substance abuse the single largest preventable cause of death in the country. A person dying from alcohol-related causes loses, on average, 26 years off the normal life span; drug-related causes, over 37 years; and smoking-related cause, about 20 years. AIDS among the injecting drug users is the fastest growing cause of death among substance abusers. Taken from IDEA Winter, 1996.
Source: Institute for Health Policy, Brandeis University and The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.