This 17th annual “back-to-school survey” continues the efforts of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASAColumbiaTM) to track attitudes of teens and those, like parents, who influence them. For more than a decade and a half this survey has sought to identify characteristics, situations and circumstances that increase or decrease the likelihood of teen substance abuse. Armed with this knowledge, parents, teachers, clergy, coaches and other responsible adults are better able to help our nation’s teens grow up healthy and drug free.