Substance Abuse On Today 's Teens

As a counselor in training and an advocate for individuals’ mental health and wellness, I chose to become an official member of the American Counseling Association (ACA) and create an advocacy project to enhance adolescent mental health and wellness by advocating for more available protective factor to reduce substance use and abuse among this population. The purpose of this paper/project is to address and improve the rate of substance use and abuse among adolescents in Pitt County, more specifically in Greenville, North Carolina. This paper goes into great detail of the description of the population (adolescents), providing statistical evidence of adolescents’ use of drugs in Greenville. An increase in youth involved community activities, community service work and parental involvement will be discussed as ways to create a healthy, anti-drug, and stable environment for adolescents in Greenville, North Carolina.

Percocet is a medication prescribed by medical practitioners to patients to relieve moderate to severe pain. Percocet contains elements of acetaminophen and oxycodone. Oxycodone and acetaminophen are both pain relievers however, oxycodone is considered an opioid. Opioids are considered a Schedule II narcotic. Oxycodone was first established in Germany in 1916 as an alternative to highly addictive pain relievers heroin and morphine. Oxycodone mixed with aspirin created Percodan which was highly addictive. Unable to be used for post operation pain, Percocet was created in 1974. Percocet is twice as strong as morphine. Percocet has been FDA approved and been out on the market since 1976. Within the later part of the century doctors favored the Percocet more because of the influx of coal miners experiencing work related pain. The strenuous work of coal miners created the right environment for abuse and addiction to plant roots. Percocet followed coal miners until it gains traction in other states. At this time Percocet is legal and comes in

Three decades from now, T.L.O., a student at a New Jersey High School was caught smoking in a school restroom, and was brought to the assistant principal’s office. The 14-years-old teenager denied smoking, so the assistant principal persisted in searching her purse and found cigarettes, and rolling paper which is associated with marijuana (T.L.O. vs. New Jersey). Nothing has changed since then. If you look a little closer, you can see teenagers lying around doing drugs here and there. They are no longer determined to succeed in life; instead all they can think about is where the next supply of cocaine will come from. What has our future come to? Research done by scientists and other professionals provide evidence that substance abuse by teenagers is an ever-growing problem due to teen’s poor judgement, it’s irreparable damage, and inability to compete with drug addiction.

Adolescence, usually defined as individuals between the ages of 12 and 20, is a period of transition, brain development and challenges1, 2, 3. Adolescence is the peak time to engage in risk taking behaviors2. Substance use is a common occurrence among adolescents. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse has identified adolescent substance use as one of the United States’ top public health concerns4. In fact, an individual’s chance of becoming a cigarette smoker drastically declines if smoking is not initiated by the time the individual is 18 years old. Alcohol and Marijuana are the most commonly used substances among adolescents1,2,3. The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Study, the Center for Antisocial Drug Dependence, Monitoring the

The existence of a myriad of social problems among teenagers that both parents and states have to deal with is a factor whose weight ought not to be treated lightly. The increasing level of drug use among the adolescents constitutes one of the ever increasing situations in the society and may, as a matter of fact, be a representation other underlying issues. The level of the situation in the contemporary world, though not discussed as much as it ought to be, has reached alarming levels. There seems to be an increasing predisposition among the use to take the drugs as it's reflected in the escalating trends of drug abuse among this generation of individuals (spooner, 1999). The ever deteriorating levels of this situation coupled with the widespread permissiveness in the society and the absence of attention from appropriate caregivers at different institutions only means that the need to address the problem is paramount. Different avenues of solutions can be applied in reducing the level of the problem and averting the massive negative consequences that come with the phenomena. Dealing with this issue is not a matter of instance as the different parameters of the problems, its causes and possible workable solutions have to be discovered. As such, research on these dynamics is a mandatory undertaking.

Hannah is a fifteen year old girl who was recently sent to a rehabilitation center for the result of abuse of prescription medication. 6.1 million high school students currently use addictive substances, and like Hannah, 1 in 3 of them are addicted (“National Study Reveals,”2011). Although the number of teens using these drugs are decreasing, the numbers are still dangerously high. Due to it’s high risk of addiction, dangerous consequences, and growing availability, substance abuse among teenagers is a serious trend being presented among all United States adolescence.

Substance abuse is very common in today's culture. There are many different substances that are abused. The most common abused substances are illegal street drugs and alcohol followed by prescription pills and medications. Technically speaking, most anything can be abused if it is taken excessively and without caution or consideration to the suggested directions. Even over the counter medications can be abused. It usually when unseen potential for dependence or abusive behaviors arise out of the general population that the authorities step in and begin to restrict its use.

(maintained abstinence/sobriety for than twelve months), or is in a controlled environment, such as a treatment facility, where access to alcohol is restricted (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 491). Individuals presenting two or three symptoms are considered to have a mild severity disorder, those who present four or five symptoms are considered to have a moderate severity disorder, and individuals presenting with six or more symptoms are considered to have a severe disorder (American Psychiatric Association, 2013, p. 491). These criteria help care providers diagnose alcohol use disorder among a variety of populations, including adolescents, and are similar to the other substance use disorder criteria that are listed in the

Percocet is a mixture of oxycodone and acetaminophen. Blending of these drug compounds increase their normal effectiveness and together impact brain function, binding to opioid receptors found on nerve cells, to effectively block pain. Percocet, as a prescription drug, can initially be legally obtained which many assume to mean that ingestion of this drug is less dangerous and that addiction is a remote possibility.

"Not feeling is no replacement for reality. Your problems today are still your problems tomorrow."- Larry Michael Dredla. For a substance abuser, all the problems that they are running away from will temporally be gone. When the high is over, those problems will still be there waiting on them. When self-medicating teens are putting themselves in danger. Between 1999 and 2002 emergency room admissions that occurred because of marijuana increased by 48%. (Carroll, 1) Substance abuse, particularly self-medicating with marijuana, can affect a victims environment and family; receiving treatment will help the victim conquer his or her addiction.

In this paper, I look at forms of substance abuse and the effects on children. I will be using the following headings to break down the different issues associated with this social problem: social causes, phenomenon, and consequences. I hope to educate those that may be ignorant to the situation, and help to spark a flame that can be used to not be a bystander, but a solution to the problem at hand.

Drug abuse in America is a major problem. Especially among teenagers. Drugs have hurt the lives of nearly 40 percent of all teenagers in America. Either with health problems, DWIs, highway crashes, arrests, impaired school and job performance. These drugs that teenagers use range from Alcohol, LSD, Marijuana, and even Cigarettes. Most of the teenagers that are involved in drug abuse have either, broken families, parents that are drug abusers, a unstable environment where they are constantly moving from place to place, or there parents aren't exactly making a lot of money and they are never around because they are trying to make enough money for them to survive. But even to most ordinary teenager can

The primary objective of this assignment is to provide the basic concepts and information on drug addiction which need to know all people for their younger youth. This assignment reflects a specific concern to present drug addiction condition which certainly destroying our younger youth.

Alcohol is the drug of choice among youth. Many young people are experiencing the consequences of drinking too much, at too early an age. As a result, underage drinking is a leading public health problem in this country.

“I’m in love with the coco” (a song depicting a love for cocaine song by O.T. Genasis), just one of the most recent songs to have explicit usage of drugs. Referring to drug usage and sales is a popular trend in today 's hip-hop and rap lyrics. As a society where do we draw the line with censorship of this material? Not only are the lyrics being said, but the drug usage is also being portrayed in the music videos; all the way from marijuana usage to cocaine and popping pills. There 's no doubt that this type of music has a negative effect on today 's youth, but by censoring, this variety of music are we in effect censoring the culture and reality that sings it.