Alcohol is probably the easiest substance to abuse, because the potential is there. It's legal, and it's available.

Certainly that's what we see in our area as well. Marijuana is as insidious as alcohol.

It doesn't matter where you are, there's a core base population of 12 to 20 per cent who will abuse drugs or alcohol.

We've made a quantum leap forward in our efforts to prevent the use and abuse of alcohol. We've taken a strong stance and made some progress. Attitudes have changed. We're all in this together, shaping the way kids grow up and look at the idea of drinking.

We don't want to be complacent about drug an alcohol abuse.

Alcohol does not a change a person’s fundamental value system. People’s personalities when intoxicated, even though somewhat altered, still bear some relationship to who they are when sober. When you are drunk you may behave in ways that are silly or embarrassing; you might be overly familiar or tactlessly honest, or perhaps careless or forgetful. But do you knock over little old ladies for a laugh? Probably not. Do you sexually assault the clerk at the convenience store? Unlikely. People’s conduct while intoxicated continues to be governed by their core foundation of beliefs and attitudes, even though there is some loosening of the structure. Alcohol encourages people to let loose what they have simmering below the surface.
ABUSERS MAKE CONSCIOUS CHOICES EVEN WHILE INTOXICATED