Teen Drug Abuse

     “His lips were ash white. His pupils were popping out,” the boy’s mother, Lilia Astudillo, said. Jose Perez was a 14 year old from Texas who told his mom "I'm not a drug addict" and Told his Mom to not take him anywhere for help. 

    The next morning Jose was dead. His mother was planning on taking him for help the next day, but it was too late. Jose was one of three people in his district to die in a span of months.

     It leaves parents thinking "why didn't I help them sooner", and "what could I have done". This small town in Texas isn't the only town suffering from this problem. Teenagers around the nation are suffering from addiction and there needs to be an end.

Teen Drug abuse

     Teen drug addiction is a complex issue that has significant implications for many teenagers. It affects their social life, family life, and every aspect of their day to day life.  Drug abuse encompasses the misuse of alcohol, marijuana, nicotine , and much more. Drug abuse for teens needs to be addressed because it leads down a long road of drug abuse during adulthood. 

       In fact, "approximately 90% of adults with a SUD began using substances at an early age, and extensive evidence now supports the correlation between age and the development of an SUD; that is, the earlier the age at which consumption begins, the higher the incidence of SUDs".

 
     Teens are being easily influenced to used drugs because of their peers. It's a problem in high school and college with tons of substance abuse starting during this time period.  "Peer pressure has caused 21% of teens using an illicit drug at least once! It can cause a teen to reluctantly take illicit drugs with negative effects on their physical and mental health." For example a teen who sees other friends doing drugs while hanging out will feel pressured to partake to feel involved in the group. 

     At a young age like this vulnerability is at its peek and the factor media influence are on a rise. "Social media exposes teenagers to alcohol-related advertising and substance-related content from their peers. Social media posts from influencers and other teenagers may glorify the use of alcohol and drugs, as it is often portrayed in a positive light." Seeing substance abuse in movies, music, and every day cultural make it normalize the risky behavior in teens, making it more likely for teens in this era.

    Another factor that contributes to substances abuse in teens is the family dynamics. Things like family conflicts, parental abuse, and parental involvement all increase the chance of drug use in their kids. 

    Lastly, the accessibility of drugs is becoming very alarming. "Nearly 70 percent of people who admitted to having used illicit drugs said they had easy access to them." The availability of fake ids, older siblings, and online sources is making it increasingly easy to follow the wrong path. " 7,800 people try illicit drugs for the first time, and roughly 50 percent of those people are teenagers."

         "Adolescence is a risk-taking period during which teens are more likely to try drugs. The part of the brain responsible for reasoning and decision-making becomes less active during this period." Young teens are very vulnerable to the impact drugs will have on their mental and physical behavior. The brain of teens isn't as developed and are sensitive to substance abuse. Depression, parental relationships, and much more have a huge impact on why teens might start to see it as a "way out".

    The naysayers voice here would be that experiencing drugs is just a part of growing up. They would try to down play the problem at hand and say that teenagers would just grow out of the phase. The quote I used above says " approximately 90% of adults with a SUD began using substances at an early age". This examples that for some people its not a "phase" and can turn into a huge problem.

    The next thing the they would say is that people who do drugs can still be successful. The naysayers downplay the servility of addiction and the long term consequences. Drugs are a huge risk that some people may down play because their lack of knowledge. 

    "Prevention is defined as a strategy that seeks to promote greater social awareness of drugs, delay the age of consumption onset, and increase the individual’s capacities to reject consumption, whether experimental or continual" . There are numerous prevention programs that focus on the well being of young adolescents. For example, "Rational Emotional Behavior Therapy (REBT) and the therapeutic system based on its principles, known as Rational Emotional Education (REE) . This strategy provides three tools that adolescents can use as protective factors in preventing problematic behaviors; namely, recognizing their emotions, changing—or challenging— their irrational beliefs, and restructuring them in rational forms."

    Teen Drug abuse is caused by many factors like peer pressure, family dynamics, and media influence. Its a big problem in the world today because it is affecting the next generation. Teens have under developed minds that can be easily hurt. There are preventions but we need to address the problem now so it doesn't get worse. 

Drug abuse deaths 

Drug Abuse de-stress?

"We can’t protect kids from everything, but we can from some things. Our communities asked us to equip teens with the tools to prevent prescription drug abuse, so that’s what we did. Our program has already reached 2,000 students in just the first year." ( Video on twitter link)

 

                                             https://t.co/8eidpV4hRI pic.twitter.com/sc4tL0lf1X 

                            

Addiction