We know that drinking too much can harm your health. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that if adults (age 21 and older) choose to drink alcohol, drinking less is better for health than drinking more.

There is no known safe amount of alcohol use during pregnancy or while trying to get pregnant.

What is a Standard Drink?

• 12 ounces of beer (5% alcohol content).

• 8 ounces of malt liquor (7% alcohol content).

• 5 ounces of wine (12% alcohol content).

• 1.5 ounces or a “shot” of 80-proof (40% alcohol content) distilled spirits or liquor (e.g., gin, vodka, rum, tequila, whiskey, brandy).

What is Excessive Drinking?

Signs of Drinking Too Much:

• You drink more or longer than you intended.

• You try to cut down or stop drinking, but are not able to.

• You need to drink more than you once did, to get the effect you want.

• You continue to drink even though it makes you feel depressed or anxious ― or adds to another health problem.

• Loved ones or trusted friends have made comments about your drinking.

• You spend a lot of time drinking or thinking about alcohol.

• You find that drinking interferes with daily activities, family, friends, or work.

• Or maybe…

  • You have had legal problems due to drinking.

  • You have experienced symptoms of withdrawal when you don’t drink (such as shakiness, sweating, tremors, headaches, anxiety, irritability, and/or insomnia).

Marijuana use comes with risks to health. Today’s marijuana is stronger than ever before.

States that have legalized marijuana regulate the drug in widely different ways ― and often it’s not being checked for its ingredients, purity, strength, or safety.

CBD Products

Cannabidiol (CBD) ― a compound found in marijuana ― doesn’t cause a “high.”

But CBD products (sold in grocery stores, drug stores, health food stores, or medical marijuana dispensaries) are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

• So there’s no federal standards for their content, purity, or potency.

• No matter what the label says, the actual ingredients might be different (and might include dangerous synthetic compounds, pesticides, or other impurities).

Kids’ Exposure

When you’re around someone who is smoking marijuana, the smoke gets into your system too.

Marijuana edibles (like gummies, chocolates, candies, baked goods, ice cream, popcorn, sodas) often look like regular treats. One edible can contain several times the adult dose of THC (the mind-altering part of marijuana).

• A child who eats an edible can overdose. This can be mild ― or severe (needing an Emergency Room or admission to a hospital).

• Severe cases in young children often involve slow or shallow breathing, slow heart rate, and other problems of a slowed central nervous system.

• If a child eats an edible, call Poison Control (800-222-1222). If symptoms seem severe, call 911.

Prescription drug misuse is when someone takes a medication other than as prescribed.

• Taking too much, or too often, or too long.

• Using it for something it wasn’t prescribed for ― the feeling it gives you, to relieve tension, sleep, or be alert or study.

• Taking a medication that wasn’t prescribed to you ― getting it from a family member or friend.

• Taking it in a way other than directed (such as crushing pills).

• Taking it with alcohol or other drugs.

Common prescriptions ― which can be misused and/or lead to addiction ― include:

• Pain relievers ― such as opioids

• Stimulants ― such as ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) medication

• Sedatives and Tranquilizers ― for anxiety or sleep

For pain, know your options. Ask your doctor:

• Are you recommending a medication?

  • If so, is it an opioid?

  • What other options do I have (non-opioid medications, physical therapy, alternative therapies, self-care, or high-tech treatments)?

• How do I safely stop taking my medication?

• What should I expect of the medication (will it decrease pain, rather than eliminate pain)?

• What should I do if my pain treatment isn’t working?

Opioids

Opioid overdose is life-threatening. Overdose can happen, even with a prescription opioid. Naloxone can reverse an opioid overdose.

Learn about opioid overdose (how to prevent it, how to recognize it, how to treat it) and how to use naloxone.

Fake Pills

Criminal drug networks are mass-producing fake prescription pills (PDF | 5.6 MB) ― and marketing them as the real thing. They’re often sold on mainstream social media sites and websites. So they’re available to anyone ― including kids.

Many fake pills look just like real medications, such as:

• Oxycodone (Oxycontin®, Percocet®)

• Hydrocodone (Vicodin®)

• Alprazolam (Xanax®)

• Stimulants like amphetamines (Adderall®)

Fake pills often contain fentanyl ― and can be deadly:

• DEA lab tests found that 6 out of every 10 pills with fentanyl contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl. A lethal dose of fentanyl (2 milligrams) – is equal in size to about 10-15 grains of table salt.

• Animal tranquilizers (even more potent than fentanyl) have also been found in fake prescription pills and illicit drugs.

Your medications should:

• Come from a licensed, accredited medical professional.

• Be prescribed to you ― not to someone else.

• Be dispensed by a licensed pharmacist at a pharmacy.

Do you know what’s in your e-cigarette or vape? The aerosol that you breathe in and exhale can contain:

• Nicotine – which is addictive

• Cancer-causing chemicals

• Heavy metals – such as nickel, tin, and lead

• Flavorings – such as diacetyl, a chemical linked to serious lung disease

• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)

• Ultrafine particles – that reach deep into the lungs

The Smoke

There are more than 7,000 chemicals in commercial tobacco smoke. (Such as: ammonia, benzene, butane, hydrogen cyanide, and toluene.) This includes hundreds of chemicals that are toxic, and about 70 that can cause cancer.

There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke can cause heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer in people who don’t smoke. Children are especially vulnerable.

Health Effects

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S.

Smoking harms nearly every organ in the body ― heart and blood vessel disease; lung disease; cancer (almost anywhere in your body); and impacts to your bones, eyes, teeth, gums, fertility and pregnancy.

When You Quit

• In minutes: Your heart rate drops.

• In 24 hours: Nicotine level in your blood drops to zero.

• In several days: Carbon monoxide in your blood drops to the level of someone who doesn’t smoke.

• Over time, you decrease your risks of heart disease, stroke, and cancer. You increase your ability to support a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.

The Time is Now

Visit smokefree.gov or text QUIT to 47848 (No matter whether you smoke, chew, dip, vape, hookah, or something else.) Tools and tips include:

• Building your quit plan

• Medications (patch, gum, lozenge, inhaler, nasal spray)

• Managing withdrawal and cravings

• Staying smoke free for good

• Helping others quit

• Smokefree text messaging

• Smokefree app

Methamphetamine (meth) is a synthetic stimulant that is addictive and can cause considerable health adversities that can sometimes result in death. Meth can be smoked, snorted, injected, or taken orally and is often used with other substances.

Someone using meth may experience a temporary sense of heightened euphoria, alertness, and energy. This is because meth increases the amount of dopamine, a natural chemical, in the brain. Dopamine is involved in body movement, motivation, and reinforcing rewarding behaviors. Meth rapidly releases high levels of dopamine into reward areas of the brain, making people want to continue to use meth.

Meth not only changes how the brain works, but also speeds up the body’s systems to dangerous, sometimes lethal, levels—increasing blood pressure and heart and respiratory rates. People who repeatedly use meth may also experience anxiety, paranoia, aggression, hallucinations, and mood disturbances.

Through evidence-based treatment and support, it is possible to live life free from meth. While there are currently no Food and Drug Administration-approved medications to treat meth addiction, behavioral therapies can be effective. One example is cognitive-behavioral therapy, which helps people cope with situations that may prompt drug use. Another example uses motivational incentives in the form of vouchers or rewards that the person can earn as encouragement for not using meth or other substances.

The Rise of Meth Use in the United States

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the rate of fatal overdoses involving meth and other stimulants has increased significantly. According to SAMHSA, about 2 million people aged 12 years or older use meth in any given year, while about 500 people each day try meth for the first time.

Short-term Effects

Even taking small amounts of meth can cause harmful health effects, including:

• Increased blood pressure and body temperature

• Faster breathing

• Rapid or irregular heartbeat

• Loss of appetite, disturbed sleep patterns, or nausea

• Erratic, aggressive, irritable, or violent behavior

Long-term Health Risks

Chronic meth use can lead to many damaging, long-term health effects, even when people stop taking meth, including:

• Permanent damage to the heart and brain

• High blood pressure leading to heart attacks, strokes, and death

• Liver, kidney, and lung damage

• Anxiety, confusion, and insomnia

• Paranoia, hallucinations, mood disturbances, delusions, or violent behavior (psychotic symptoms can sometimes last for months or years after meth use)

• Intense itching, causing skin sores from scratching

• Premature osteoporosis

• Severe dental problems 

All drug use comes with risk. Know the facts before letting drugs take their toll on you and your family.

Drug use—including marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, as well as prescription drug misuse and illicit opioids—among adults is on the rise. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased drug use.

Different drugs pose different dangers. Drug use can lead to dependence and addiction, injury and accidents, health problems, sleep issues, and more. Drug use affects you and those close to you. Know there is help. Do you or someone you know hide their drugs?

Multimedia Resources

Help stop drug use before it becomes a routine and provide support to those in need of treatment by sharing and airing these resources.

The Risks are Real

The pressures on adults are real. Building careers, buying homes, getting married, having kids, and trying to do it all well comes with a lot of pressure. COVID-19 has magnified the stress. Some turn to drugs to cope. Just because some drugs are legal, doesn’t mean they are less dangerous.

Over time, the regular or habitual use of drugs becomes a crutch and only adds to the stress. Drugs can also cause other harms, including:

Before the risks become real and before drugs turn your life—and your family—upside down, know there is help. You can quit.

The Rise of Drug Use for Adults Ages 26-49

While young adults ages 18-25 have the highest rates of drug use across the board, drug use among adults ages 26-49 is on the rise:

• Cocaine: Highly addictive, cocaine is involved in nearly one in five overdose deaths; its health effects include asthma, bowel decay, and increased risk of HIV.

• Methamphetamine (Meth): Meth causes devastating health effects, and sometimes death, even on the first try. Meth speeds up the body’s systems to dangerous levels. Chronic users experience anxiety, confusion, insomnia, paranoia, aggression, and more.

• Prescription and illicit opioids: Highly addictive, the substances are the top cause of overdose deaths; health effects include confusion, nausea, constipation, coma, and brain damage.

• Marijuana: Even though it is legal in many states, studies link marijuana use to various negative outcomes.

• The percentage of adults age 26 and older using marijuana daily or almost daily has nearly doubled since 2015.

• Cocaine use and death rates have risen; cocaine-involved overdose rates in the U.S. have risen annually since 2012.

• Meth use is on the rise and overdose death rates climbed more than five-fold for those ages 25 to 54 between 2011 and 2018.

The nation remains in a prescription and illicit opioids crisis, as 81,230 drug overdose deaths occurred in the U.S.—the highest single year ever reported—in the 12 months ending in May 2020; most of the overdose deaths involved a prescription or illicit opioid.