July 5, 2011: The star of the Harry Potter movies, Daniel Radcliffe, has revealed a drinking problem in the recent GQ magazine as detailed today by MTV.com. Coincidently just last week the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia unveiled a national study that says teen smoking, drinking, misusing prescription drugs and using illegal drugs have become a public health problem of epidemic proportions. Since Radcliffe considers himself to be a role model, perhaps admitting the alcoholism problem – and staying sober -- can help spread the word on the dangers of substance abuse as noted in the new report
"I became so reliant on [alcohol] to enjoy stuff," he says of making the 2009 film. "I really got away with that because there were many instances when a paparazzi shot like that could have been taken." Daniel Radcliffe Reveals Recent Drinking Problem - MTV.com
Hiding his problem is what many teens do today
So many teens try to hide their drinking or substance abuse problems which interfere with their getting help. The CASA report reviews current knowledge of the science of addiction as a complex brain disease with origins in adolescence, documents how adolescence is the critical period for the initiation of substance use and a time for prevention as head of the organization told me in an earlier interview.
Joseph A. Califano Jr. is founder and chairman of CASA at Columbia University (co-founded with Herbert D. Kleber, M.D.). He was secretary of health, education and welfare from 1977 until 1979. He is also the author of How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid: The Straight Dope for Parents. He told me that all proceeds go directly to support CASA.
The new CASA teen study
The study looks at how American culture increases the risk that teens will use addictive substances and how the messages sent by adults, and glamorized by the tobacco and alcohol industries and the media, normalize substance use and undermine the health and futures of our teens. Some of the highlights include:
- 90 percent of Americans who meet the medical criteria for addiction started smoking, drinking, or using other drugs before age 18.
- 1 in 4 Americans who began using any addictive substance before age 18 developed an addiction, compared to 1 in 25 Americans who started using at age 21 or older.
- 75 percent of all high school students have used addictive substances including tobacco, alcohol, marijuana or cocaine; 1 in 5 of them meets the medical criteria for addiction.
- 46 percent of all high school students currently use addictive substances; 1 in 3 of them meets the medical criteria for addiction.
For more information: CASAColumbia.org: HomeCopyright 2011 Rita Watson/ All Rights Reserved
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