This week Dr. Nora Volkow, the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), announced the launch of a new website aimed specifically at educating youth about addiction and drug abuse. The website, "NIDA for Teens: The Science Behind Drug Abuse," is part of a larger NIDA initiative to expand resources that provide informative and accurate data to both students and teachers about the health effects of drug abuse. The larger initiative, "NIDA Goes Back to School," was officially launched in September and is designed to expand educational resources and generate interest among students in the biological sciences as a possible career choice. The NIDA for Teens website is an interactive website geared towards youth ages 11 to 15 and includes age appropriate facts on drugs, real stories about teens and drug abuse, games, take home activities, and a Q&A forum with Dr. Volkow.

As part of the "NIDA Goes Back to School" initiative, NIDA has partnered with Scholastic, the global children's publishing and media company, to expand the availability of information in the classroom about drug addiction and abuse. This partnership includes the distribution of classroom magazines featuring science-based articles on drug abuse to nearly 7 million middle school students monthly. The partnership also includes the development of a new education program which provides students and teachers with information on stimulants, hallucinogens, medications abuse, and how drug abuse and addiction can have an impact on the developing adolescent brain. The "NIDA for Teens" website is www.teens.drugabuse.gov, and the "NIDA Goes Back to School" website is www.backtoschool.drugabuse.gov.