After reading this chapter, you should be able to

• Discuss the reasons for youth drug use and societal understandings of substance use
• Provide illustrations of the role of legal products in youth substance use
• Analyze the general pattern and trends of youth drug use in the United States today, as well as patterns related to gender, race, and ethnicity
• Explain the effects of drug prohibition and the war on drugs
• Examine the relationship between drug and alcohol use and delinquency and how it can be affected by sexism, racism, homophobia, and transphobia
• Compare and contrast societal responses to youth drug use, including the use of culturally specific approaches