Drugs and Alcohol in the Teenage Years The teenage years are a very important time for both girls and boys where they make decisions that will essentially have the power to shape their lives. In life there are conflicts to overcome both with the "evil" social world and even the vulnerability of a young girl can cause problems. Both have a huge impact on the decisions he will make. Drugs and alcohol are both problems that almost every young person in today's society will come into contact with. Then there is the question of making decisions about how these substances will affect their lives. It is interesting to study and compare drug use between different ethnic groups and also how the culture one is raised in plays an important role in how they respond to the same problems. This leads directly to the topic of my article, which is girls growing up on the border. This is a completely different lifestyle and upbringing for these girls living so close to Mexico. Drugs and alcohol are everywhere and are most likely woven into each of our lives in some way. For this reason it is clear how likely it is that adolescents are exposed to these substances very often if not daily. Recent surveys carried out, particularly the Ontario Health Survey, 1990, show that drug initiation begins as early as age 12 in an adolescent's life. Twelve years is considered the risk period for alcohol and tobacco, and this stage does not end until around age 22. A sample of 4,364 people from this same study included people between the ages of 15 and 35. The results showed that the highest risk age for starting alcohol, marijuana or tobacco ends at age 22. Again it's shit...half of paper...you're white or Mexican and live on the border or not. Works Cited: Leverton, Kate. Personal interview. March 25, 1999.Phipher, Mary. Reviving Ophelia: Saving the self of adolescent girls. New York, New York. GP Putnam Sons, 1994.DeWitt, David J; Offord David R. “Patterns of onset and cessation of drug use across the early life course.” Young Adults-Drug Use-Ontario-Drug Abuse-Ontario -Drinking Alcohol-Ontario. Vol.24, p. 746, 13 p. Holck Susan E., MD, Warren Charles W. Ph.D, Smith Jack MS, Rochat Roger MD, "Alcohol Consumption Among Mexican-American and Anglo-Saxon Women; Results from a Survey Along the U.S.-Mexico Border" . vol. 45: page. 149-154, 1984.Dassori Abana M., Neff James A., Hoppe K, Sue. "Ethnic and gender differences in the diagnostic profiles of drug addicts". Vol 15, August 1993, pp. 382-390.