The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA)

The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), located at Columbia University in Missouri, is a think tank devoted to combating drug abuse in American society. In the following viewpoint, excerpted from a report by the CASA Commission on Substance Abuse Among America’s Adolescents, CASA states that the rate of drug use by teenagers has been increasing in recent years and that a growing number of teens are starting to use drugs before they reach adolescence. According to CASA, this rise in adolescent drug use has been caused in part by cultural messages that glamorize substance abuse.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What percentage of teens between fifteen and seventeen report that drugs are present at their school, according to CASA? 2. What evidence...