Drugs are a universal problem. Whether they are illicit or just tobacco, people get addicted and suffer the consequences. It is not just adults; teenagers can fall victim too.

In New York State, 4.5 percent of residents aged 12 to 17 are admitted to rehabilitation centers, according to the National Substance Abuse Index. That is almost 200,000 teens admitted each year.

“I get offered [marijuana] at least once a month, but see deals nearly weekly,” said Eric Wolf, a senior from Paul V. Moore High School.

Most teens in Oswego County begin using marijuana at about 13 years old, according to the Oswego County Prevention Coalition. That also goes for alcohol use. Furthermore, the study shows that most high schoolers are using at home or at a friend’s house.

The study comes from anonymous surveys given to six of the nine school districts in Oswego County.

Urban, low-income areas are generally the largest users of marijuana, according to New York Drug Addiction and Abuse Information. With the ease of availability, high school students are much more likely to participate in those types of behaviors.

However, it is not just marijuana and alcohol that are being abused by teenagers.

“Heroin is the epidemic now,” said Teresa Woolson, founder of the VOW foundation. “We have kids in high school using heroin.”

Woolson said it is easy for people to get Heroin because it is cheap.

“We’re being told by the drug task force that they’re [teenagers] going up to Syracuse and bringing heroin back,” Woolson said.

Oswego County is the eighth poorest county in New York State, according to NYS Community Action Association.

“You can go and get a bag of heroin for ten dollars,” said Robin Burdick, director of the Oswego County Prevention Coalition. “We have a big poverty issue.”

Burdick said the going rate of Hydrocodone on the street is one dollar for one milligram, and most pills are 10 milligrams.

“It’s worse in [Oswego] county because we’re so rural,” Woolson said. “The drugs are worse than inner Rochester, inner Syracuse, because we’re so rural. There’s nothing for the kids to do.”

A study by the Oswego County Prevention Coalition shows that students in sports and students who have high grades are much less likely to do drugs or alcohol. Approximately 10 percent of students in sports reported to doing drugs “A Lot” and about 14 percent of students with high grades reported doing drugs “A Lot.”