At a recent parent forum at my suburban high school, a drug counselor estimated that half of the students use drugs and alcohol at least occasionally, and half of those become frequent or daily, users. The next speaker was a young woman who spoke eloquently about beginning drug and alcohol use at 14, buying everything from marijuana to heroin in and around the high school, and leaving school at 18 with no diploma and no prospects. Miraculously, 3 years later, she is sober and picking up the pieces of her life.