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The title says it all...

It may not come as a shock to many people, but teens who use alcohol or illegal drugs are more likely than their peers:

• Are more likely to become sexually active and to have become active earlier in life
• Are more likely to have had sex without using a condom
• Are more likely to have had sex with more people
• Are more likely to get a sexually transmitted disease or get pregnant
• Are more likely to suffer sexual violence

That information comes from a new study released in February by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. According to the report, teens that use alcohol are seven times more likely to have sex than kids who refrain. Teens who use illegal drugs are five times likelier to have sex, than young people who do not take drugs. Teens who use alcohol are also twice as likely to have sex with four or more partners.

Should the abstinence message include the concept of abstaining from mind-altering substances?

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, www.kff.org