April is Alcohol Awareness Month: "Talk Early, Talk Often: Parents Can Make a Difference in Teen Alcohol Use"

Alcohol is the most abused substance by American youth and more likely to be the cause of young people's death over all other illegal drugs combined (National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc).

Access is usually what determines which substance young people use, according to Katharine Sadler, author of What Adults Need to Know about Kids and Substance Use. Alcohol and cigarettes--known as "gateway drugs"--are often the substances that adolescents use first because they are easy to obtain. Parents need to make sure that they don't become the suppliers of these substances because easy access to alcohol may send the message to young people that drinking is less serious than using drugs.