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NIDA News: What Are Teens Asking About Drugs?
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November 10th is NIDA’s annual DRUG FACTS CHAT DAY! In case you haven’t heard of it—more than 40 NIDA scientists and science writers sit down at computers and answer questions sent in live from high school students from all over the country. Last year, 11,000 teens sent in their questions! To actually ask a question on the CHAT your school has to register in advance. But even if you haven’t registered, there’s a lot of interesting stuff to read by just observing Chat Day, on November 10, 8 am to 6 pm EST. You’ll see factoids and quizzes (test your “drug IQ”) and links to other sites. And if you are curious to know what kids ask about, the transcripts from the 2007 and 2008 CHATS are also posted.
What do you think the most popular questions were? Last year teens asked a lot of questions about marijuana, cigarettes, and alcohol (yes alcohol and cigarettes are drugs too). They also wanted to know what the “worst” drugs are, and what happens if someone who’s pregnant uses drugs. There were also lots of questions about the effects of drugs on the body, and teens asked how they could find help for friends who had problems with drugs.
The most important thing to know about NIDA’s DRUG FACTS CHAT DAY is that the scientists just want to give teens the scientific facts about drugs— no lectures.
So if you’re near a computer (which you are if you are reading this!) take a look at NIDA’s DRUG FACTS CHAT DAY webpage. See if the question you would ask is being asked by someone else. And next year, ask your teacher to register, so your class can post questions directly to NIDA scientists!
