(kcci.com) DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa State University study shows that racial discrimination is a strong predictor of drug use by black teenagers.

The study by Iowa State’s Institute for Social and Behavioral Research of more than 600 black children from Georgia and Iowa found that those who experience racial discrimination before they turn 12 are twice as likely to use drugs by the time they are teenagers, according to a news release.

Among those who experienced discrimination also had what the study called “conduct disorders” in which teens committed acts such as vandalism or burglary and more than half reported drug use five years later, according to the research. (source)