Youth in the USA
dents still find ways to drink and smoke to - bacco, it is not until college that is becomes much more common for young people to drink and smoke. However, increasingly, va - porizers (vapes) with flavored tobacco have become very popular for young people. Drug usage is common among young peo - ple in the United States. Everything from prescribed medications to marijuana and cocaine are becoming commonly used drugs. With the legalization of marijuana in many U.S. states, coupled with the increa - sed availability of vapes in stores, marijua - na is the en vogue drug of choice. However, there are many in-school and community programs that work to educate youth on the negative impacts of drug abuse. Youth Homelessness Each year, there are over four million youth and young adults who experience homel - essness, of which nearly one million are unaccompanied minors. This means that they are officially not part of a family or accompanied by a parent or guardian. On any given night, over forty thousand unac - companied youth ages thirteen to twenty- five are homeless. Many factors increase a young person’s odds of experiencing homel - essness. Demographic risk factors for beco - ming homeless include whether they are Hispanic or Black, are parenting a child, but are unmarried; or classified as LGBTQIA+. In particular gay youth are more than twice the risk of being homeless than their cisgender or heterosexual peers.
Each year, there are over four million youth and young adults who experience homelessness.
Youth homelessness is more common in low-income areas. The resources available for young homeless peo - ple vary by city and state. New York and California, for example, tends to have more shelters and resources for young people in this situation than places such as Lou - isiana. The resources towards youth homelessness are dependent upon how many government public services and non-profit organizations are in that particular area.
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