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Why teenagers use drugs essays
Comtemporary issue of drug using amongst adolescents
Sociological perspectives on substance abuse of youths]
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Dating Tips for the Druggie When you here the word ‘drugs,’ what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Is it ‘those are illegal!’ Or is it more along the lines of ‘Yes, please.’ It’s no secret that as the years go on, teenagers of every generation have been getting involved with drugs, to their frantic parent’s dismay. And according to Students Against Destructive Decisions, 50% of teens have reported using an illicit drug by the time they graduate high school. So why have teenagers still been doing drugs when they’ve been proven to be more harmful then helpful? One reason kids tend to drugs is for the fact that they’re bored. Doesn’t this seem a slightly ridiculous reason to destroy your innards? Psychological research has indicated not only that people in general like to take risks, but that high-risk takers are more likely to turn to reckless activities such as drugs. Some people even find taking risks as a way to define themselves. Kids who turn to drugs sometimes can’t see any other ways to take risks that would satisfy, or be available as often as, drugs. Plus, what fun ...
Drugs are not only a problem for older generations, but often times those in younger generations become involved in the drug trade as well. According to Anderson (1990), “Children who become deeply engaged in t...
...ision are contributions to juvenile substance abuse. As you say in class “the brain isn’t fully developed until the age 25”, therefore making dumb decisions are bound to happen. Having a immature mind allows room for error and persuasion to try something from friends may seem to be “in or cool”. According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University found that stress, boredom, and extra money were extreme factors in adolescents’ drug abuse.
In recent years, marijuana seems to have become more accepted in society. Although recreational use of the drug is still illegal in the United States, it has become common to hear of teenagers experimenting with weed. It seems that teens today have an invincibility complex towards the drug and do not fear any of the risks associated with it. According to a 1994 Los Angeles Times article by Rose Apodaca, this is ironically a direct result of the teenagers’ parents, who are members of the hippie-Woodstock generation (By Design - Los Angeles Times). Teenagers see that their parents most likely smoked pot at some point or another and they turned out fine, and thus causes teens to think it is okay to use marijuana and may even consider it trendy. Teens are also prompted to use the drug as an act of rebellion, because ever since we were young, parents and educators have forced anti-drug, alcohol, and tobacco ads onto us, trying to instill in us that these substances are harmful and should not be abused. While these messages have valid points, they also unintentionally drill into young minds the first places to turn to when rebelling against our superiors. In addition, the use of marijuana and other substances is essentially adv...
Prescription drug abuse has become a major epidemic across the globe, shattering and affecting many lives of young teenagers. Many people think that prescription drugs are safer and less addictive than “street drugs.” After all, these are drugs that moms, dads, and even kids brothers and sisters use. The dangers are not easily seen, but the future of our youth will soon be in severe danger if the problem is not addressed,it will continue to get worse if action is not taken soon. Prescription drugs are only supposed to be consumed by patients who have been examined and have a medical report by a professional, more and more teens are turning to the family’s medicine cabinet to “get high” but what they are actually doing is severely harming themselves, kids today are turning away from the street drugs and abusing the “prescribed” drugs that are that are at their very own home.
Recently drug addiction in the United States is at an all-time high, especially among teens. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University found that teens who abuse prescription drugs are twice as likely to use alcohol, five times more likely to use marijuana, and twelve to twenty times more likely to use illegal street drugs such as heroin, ecstasy and cocaine than teens who do not abuse prescription drugs. Forty five percent of drug overdose deaths, in teens are attributed to the abuse of prescription drugs. The illegal abuse of prescription drugs starts at home in a teen’s own bathroom. Most teens get the prescription drugs from their own medicine cabinet or their unknowing parents. With such alarming facts
Drugs cause an overall disturbance in a subjects’ physiological, psychological and emotional health. “At the individual level, drug abuse creates health hazards for the user, affecting the educational and general development of youths in particular” (“Fresh Challenge”). In youth specifically, drug abuse can be triggered by factors such as: a parent’s abusive behavior, poor social skills, family history of alcoholism or substance abuse, the divorce of parents or guardians, poverty, the death of a loved one, or even because they are being bullied at school (“Drugs, brains, and behavior”) .
...substance abuse must continue, and it is imperative that more teens are educated about different substances and their effects on physical, mental appearances. More educational classes are now needed because of the risk of losing an entire generation to the streets and world of drugs and alcohol. The slow but sure takeover of drugs and alcohol is a problem than can be obtained if proper precautions are put into place. If we, as America’s team, act now to stop to the spread of meth, alcohol, and other fast increasing substances, there will be hope for America’s future.
America will to be responsible for enslaving an entire generation. Youth must be seen as the victims of this “experimentation” or else the danger of drugs will not be seen. Life has become so valueless, that drugs are going be sold, no matter how it affects a person. It is easy to sell an item, even if it hurts millions and kills more. Yet, it isn’t easy to sell a person to their death. That is what the legalization of drugs will do, and that is why it must be stopped.
In order to solve this vast and complex problem of drugs in America, we must first acknowledge that the "War on Drugs" is not actually a war at all, but is instead an attempt to avoid the real challenges involved with addressing our shortcomings as a society, as individuals, and as a nation, by imagining that drugs themselves are to blame. Perhaps today, as we see our armed forces engaged in warfare abroad, our economy in flux, and our nation heavily involved in a global "War on Terror," the illumination of the facts will yield the collective will necessary to disengage from this domestic battle of our own creation, and finally declare an end to the “War on Drugs.”
Every day the United States has seen a massive amount of substance use amongst the nation’s adolescent population. The National Institute for Drug Abuse (2012) defined substance abuse as “any illicit use of a substance as drug abuse; this includes the nonmedical use of prescription drugs” and substance addiction as “a chronic, relapsing disease characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use despite harmful consequences as well as neurochemical and molecular changes in the brain” (n.p.). Doweiko (2012) stated that when discussing substance use amongst teens, those terms are actually often used interchangeably. He went on to include the figures from the 2009 survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) which detailed the rates of adolescent abuse and addiction. The agency reported 9.3% of teens surveyed are currently abusing some type of substance (SAMHSA, 2009 as cited in Doweiko, 2012). Breaking down the statistics further, Johnson, O’Mally, Bachman, and Schulenberg (2009) stated that a...
Adolescences in particular can be easily influenced to abusing a drug or multiple drugs. I believe this happens because teens often lack education, live in an environment where drugs are readily available, are peer-pressured and the lack of proper growth of the frontal lobe. Many factors contribute to adolescences experimenting with drugs. As side from being a child, the adolescence stage is of great importance. Healthy habits and activities are supposed to be instilled within this stage of life. The adolescence stage can be very perplexing and what is made into a habit then is easily carried on into adulthood. Our genes act together with our environment to contribute to the addictive behaviors we are motivated to develop. If addiction is left untreated it can ultimately lead to de...
Before being capable of fighting the use of drugs and alchol, one must come to an understanding of why some people use drugs. The decision to ultimately use drugs is influenced mainly in childhood. Whether in a poor ?ghetto? neighborhood, or in a middle-class suburb, all children are vulnerable to the abuse of drugs. Most high-risk children are effected by personal and family circumstances (Falco 51). If a child?s parents are substance abusers, then it is a fairly safe prediction that the child will abuse drugs later in life. Also, early-life experiments with drugs greatly increases the chance of abuse later in life. Academic problems, and rebellious, anti-social behavior in elementary school are also linked to drug problems, in addition to truancy, delinquency, and ear...
Certain drugs can be injected via a syringe or needle, smoked, ingested through the nasal cavity, and even laced into certain foods and eaten. Unfortunately, in certain areas, drugs can be very easily obtained in an unsafe environment. Usually, drugs affect teenagers the most who are in their high school and college years. It is reported that teenagers can get their hands on narcotics at a myriad of places in their daily lives. They can be found: In the medicine cabinet, at home, at a neighbor’s house, online, a friend, at schools, and at parties. Nowadays, with rapid advancement in drug development, kids as young as 16 can cook and grow their own drugs in their homes. Neglect of strict attention or drug awareness among parents can result in teenagers buying or selling drugs routinely in their
Drugs are something that has been prevalent in our society for many decades now. It seems that as our population continue to grow, drugs seem to continue to have a major impact throughout our society, then used by drug seem to have been influenced by many things, either through social or cultural factors and it have affected people in many different ways such as their behavior, their attitude and just basically their livelihood. Today our society is deeply infected with the issue of drugs, we look around our society and we see young kids are being consume by drugs, we see workers, and executive people are also being consumed by drugs. Drugs continue to play a huge role in our society because while most people
Few people deny the dangers of drug use, while many teens are curious about drugs. They should stay away from drugs because drugs affect our health, lead to academic failure, and jeopardizes safety. Drugs are used from a long period of time in many countries. The concentration of drugs has increased from late 1960’s and 1970’s. Drugs can quickly takeover our lives. Friends and acquaintance have the greatest influence of using drugs during adolescence.