Drug abuse

Running head: DRUG ABUSE AMONG THE TEENAGERS 1

DRUG ABUSE AMONG THE TEENAGERS 8

Drug Abuse Among the Teenagers

Ulysis Bonsu

09/19/19

Drug abuse among teenagers.

Introduction

A drug is said to be any substance which when it gets into the body it changes the physiology or the psychology of that organism. Drug abuse, on the other hand, is said to be the continuous use of certain chemical for the purpose of creating pleasurable effects in the brain or the purpose other than the drug is intended for. In the context of drug abuse, the drugs being referred to are the hard drugs such as the narcotics. There are over 190 million drug users in the world, the case which is very alarming among youths and young adults. Teenage drug use is one of the most prevalent problems in society today. They are various reasons which the youth get involved in drug abuse some of which will be addressed in this paper. Also drug abuse has some serious effects on the health of the users most of which are negative. It is due to the concern that has been raised concerning the use of drugs among the teenagers that this paper is written to address some of the matter pertaining drug use.

Reasons behind drug abuse among teenagers

Peer pressure

Peer pressure is a force that is very powerful in any given stage of human life. however, its effects of being very influential are much depicted in the adolescence stage of human life. This is the stage of life whereby the teenagers are trying to find where they fit in life. In this stage they get to follow what their fellow colleagues are doing despite it being good or bad, just to be with their company.

To look and feel “grown-up”

At most of the times, the adolescent would feel much better if treated like adults. They do not want to be treated like a kid again in this stage of life. They are therefore drawn to things that make feel more mature and sophisticated. To boost their feelings, they resort to smoking and drinking.

Modeling parents’ behavior.

Parent are perceived as the role models to their children. The children, therefore, learn from their parents. In this context, they mimic the behaviors of the parents. If the parents have bad morals

Curiosity.

One of the characters of the teenager is that they are at the exploring stage of their lives. They will, therefore, want to learn and try new things in life. This urge becomes stronger when they are left unsupervised and with freedom to do what they want. With this driving force, they tend to experiment different things and therefore they end up using indulging alcohol and drugs.

Boredom.

This is connected to idleness which is the root of evils things in the world as the old saying goes that idle mind is the devil’s workshop. This can get kids which are restless at this stage of their lives to all kinds of trouble. The situation worsens if the kids have friends that are also bored. With this they may start with a few drinks and end up being addicted.

Self-medication

Some teenager may be undergoing a lot of emotional pains and maybe looking for ways of doing away with such pain. One of the methods that they can use is the use of alcohol and hard drugs. These drugs temporarily relieve their pains when they get high. However, this is usually short-lived, meaning that they will need to take the drugs often to maintain the condition of life.

To have fun.

At time feeling high together with a group of friends feels like fun. Therefore, as the teenagers spend time with their friends, they get to use alcohol and other drugs. Continuous repetition of such habits eventually leads to drug addiction (Nolen-Hoeksema et al, 2007).

Most commonly abused drugs.

According to recent government studies on the use of drugs amongst the teens in the Americas, both pharmaceutical and illicit drugs are abused by the teens. This has come due to the fact that most of the teens do an experiment on drugs. From this experimenting groups, about 8% of them get addicted to the use of the various drugs. The most commonly abused drugs by the teenagers according to the research done by the Michigan University in 2014 are as follows.

Marijuana : this drug is used by around 34.9 % of the senior students in high school. The consumption rate of this drug is at least once every year.

Adderall : this drug is used mostly by colleges and high school due to the belief that it boosts learning. This is used by at least 7.5 % of the high school teens.

Cough medicine : this is used by 4.1 % of the students at least once a year.

Vicodin : this drug is a very powerful but highly addictive painkiller. It is prescribed for patients who undergo surgery in hospitals. 4.4 % of the student’s use of this drug.

Hallucinogens: the use of these drugs by teenager stands at least 4.2 % of high school students at least once a year.

Cocaine : cocaine has the effect of lower inhibition and increasing energy. This is mostly used when parting by the teenager. 2.5% of them use this drug at least once a year (Sung et al,2005).

Apart from the above-discussed drugs, there are other kinds of drugs that are used by teens such as MDMA, synthetic marijuana among others.

Effects of drug abuse

The effects of drugs on the users do range from physical, mental and social effects as discussed below.

Physical effects of drug abuse.

These effects are very devastating especially among the teens whose bodies are developing. Some of these physical effects are damage to the liver, heart, and increase in the blood pressure. In addition, drugs abuse causes lung infections, the kidney disease, the immune system gets weak. In adverse conditions drugs use leads to coma and other abnormal vital signs.

Mental effects of drugs abuse.

The effects of using drugs on the human brain are as follows. It lowers the mental functions as the brain cells are lost, secondly, it leads to depression and anxiety. The third effect of using drugs is addiction. Hostility is another effect that is associated with using drugs. Other mental effects of the drugs are psychosis, paranoia and exacerbated mental illness (Bootzin & Stevens, 2005).

Social effects of drug abuse.

The social effects of using drugs are as follows; loss of friends, loss of a job, legal trouble, decrease in academic performance, change in personality and financial problems.

Symptoms of drug abuse.

There is a wide range of symptoms that are depicted by the individual who abuses drugs. some of these symptoms are dilated pupil of red coloration of the eyes, moodiness, change in personality, some people lose interest in their hobbies and irritability of the user. Other symptoms are changing in the friends, bouts of extreme hyperactivity, truancy, and other academic problems, sullen demeanor, and theft. In addition, drugs users do lie, they use perfumes to hide the smell substances.

How to stop drug abuse among teenagers

The following are the ways that can be used to curb the abuse to drugs among teenagers.

Know the activities of the teens

This involves paying attention to the activities that the youths get involved in. This may involve monitoring such activities to ensure that they are only involved in positive ones.

Establish rules and consequences.

This involves explaining to the family how people should conduct themselves and the consequences of misconduct. In case their breaking of such rule among the teens, the consequences should be enforced.

Know the friends of the teens

It is important to monitor the kind of friends that the teen hangs around with. This helps to avoid those who used drugs for it is through the peer pressure brought but them that those who do not use drugs get involved in drug abuse.

Keep track of prescription drugs.

An inventory of all the prescription drugs and also those bought over the counter should be kept among the youths.

Provide support.

Every success among the teens should be recognized and the youth be encouraged to involve in positive activities.

Set a good example.

Parents should set a good example to the children by discouraging the use of drugs (Botvin et al, 2001).

Conclusion

Drug abuse has been so prevalent among teens and this is a behavior that has been emulated from the culture of the society. It is therefore important that moral fabric of the society is kept upright to let our teen grow up to emulate good behaviors and grow to useful adults in the future. It is, therefore, the role of each and every person in society to ensure that the teens and the youths are not exposed to drug and substance abuse.

References

Bootzin, R. R., & Stevens, S. J. (2005). Adolescents, substance abuse, and the treatment of insomnia and daytime sleepiness. Clinical psychology review, 25(5), 629-644.

Botvin, G. J., Griffin, K. W., Diaz, T., & Ifill-Williams, M. (2001). Drug abuse prevention among minority adolescents: Posttest and one-year follow-up of a school-based preventive intervention. Prevention Science, 2(1), 1-13.

Nolen-Hoeksema, S., Stice, E., Wade, E., & Bohon, C. (2007). Reciprocal relations between rumination and bulimic, substance abuse, and depressive symptoms in female adolescents. Journal of abnormal psychology, 116(1), 198.

Sung, H. E., Richter, L., Vaughan, R., Johnson, P. B., & Thom, B. (2005). Nonmedical use of prescription opioids among teenagers in the United States: Trends and correlates. Journal of Adolescent Health, 37(1), 44-51.