Why Do Teens Turn To Drugs

What do you think when you hear the word “teenager”? Most people think of teenagers as pugnacious and restless human beings. Their rebellious and rambunctious behavior usually leads people to believe this. Teens tend to participate in jeopardous activities such as dangerous driving, binge-drinking, or fighting that could land them in serious trouble, the ER or the police station. Although engaging in these exercises is strongly frowned upon, some studies show that most of these actions cannot be controlled. Adolescents are drawn to risky acts due to specific messengers in the brain, peer pressure and their odd methods of apprehending the outcomes of a situation.

Adolescence is a time where adolescents grow and mature at a rapid rate. It is also a time where adolescents are more vulnerable to taking risks, such as using and becoming addicted to illegal substances, due to raging hormones. Whether or not an adolescent chooses to engage in drug use and abuse depends on their home environment and those they choose to associate themselves with. Adolescents are confronted with an enormous amount of pressure to participate in risky behaviors by their peers. According to Broderick and Blewitt (2015), “risky behaviors are behaviors that constitute a departure from socially accepted norms or behaviors that pose a threat to the well-being of individuals or groups” (p. 389). One such risky behavior is drug use and addiction. Some adolescents use cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and prescription drugs in order to get “high”. Adolescents who engage in drug use are likely to become addicted, and thus, their addiction will negatively affect their brain development.

In today’s society drugs are now easy access for people to get their hands. Due to the fact that they easily able to access, this gives young youth a chance of a lifestyle that they should be taken part in. A scenario in the text book, about a young girl name Sue had easy access to drugs and alcohol leads to a lifestyle that she would later on regret. It is said that young juvenile starts have drug use as early at the age of twelve. Sue was seventeen when she first started using drugs.

These numbers reveal that teenagers face an apparent exposure to drugs, and have little trouble getting a hold of some if desired. This article concludes that drug use and its consequences are not stressed enough in the current high school curriculum. The statistics prove that more needs to be done to identify and educate students at risk for drug use.

Teenage drug abuse is an issue that can result from a wide variety of social influences, stressful events, and mental disorders. Drug abuse among adolescents is a troubling issue because it decreases focus, increases the chance of consistency in behavior during adulthood, increases the chances of developing emotional issues, permanently damages the brain, and damages tissues in every system that can lead to death. Previous scientific research has identified that social factors, including the media and peers, play an important role in psychological development and impact the adolescent's decision to start experimenting with substances (Botvin 888). Appropriate solutions for the teenage drug abuse issue already exist, but the only remaining

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.

A drug is a substance that alters the mind, body or both. Drug use is an increasing problem among teenagers in colleges today. Most drug use begins in the preteen and teenage years, the years most crucial in the maturation process (Shiromoto 5). During these years adolescents are faced with difficult tasks of discovering their self identity, clarifying their sexual roles, assenting independence, learning to cope with authority and searching for goals that would give their lives meaning. Drugs are readily available, adolescents are curious and venerable, and there is peer pressure to experiment, and there is a temptation to escape from conflicts. The use of drugs by teenagers is the result of a combination of factors such as peer

Does only the juvenile drinking or drugging up suffer, or do others get involved? The answer is, not only do the users suffer, but so do their family, friends, and the community. However, due to the rise of juvenile's becoming involved in substance abuse, the juvenile justice system has resulted in an increased burden. Over the past fifteen years, the fad of drug use among kids has steadily been increasing.

if you had to look at all the juvenile delinquents in our society and guess what the most common crime is what would your guess be; theft, vandalism, assault, battery, murder? These would all be good guesses but are in fact incorrect. Drum roll please, and the correct answer is substance abuse, also known as drug use. The biggest issue that our communities are facing is our juveniles using drugs and this leading into the more severe violent crimes. “In 1997, courts with juvenile jurisdiction disposed of nearly 1.8 million cases nationwide for delinquency alone representing over one million individual juveniles who came into contact with the court that year. Many of these youth have alcohol, drug, or mental health (ADM) problems” (Breda, August 14, 2004, p. 3). 1.8 million Cases of drug related cases are a clear indicator of where our juvenile’s problems begin. The biggest issue that this creates is that the alcohol and substance abuse that surrounds our youth has been proven to be a gateway into more serious crimes. “

There are so many destructive choices that teenagers make when they have nothing to keep their minds occupied. Some of the different choices teenagers have made when bored are vandalism, speeding while driving, reckless endangerment, smoking, drugs like marijuana, Amphetamines, Adderall, Opioid painkillers, Synthetic marijuana, Tranquilizers, Cough medicine, Vicodin, Hallucinogens, OxyContin, Sedatives, Ecstasy (MDMA), LSD, Cocaine, Ritalin, Inhalants, and Salvia as well as drinking alcoholic beverages while definitely under age. The CDC says that “people from the ages of 12 to 20 make up 11 percent of all alcohol consumed in the United States.” Federal law in the United States says that you must be 21 or older to consume alcohol or any sort. That 11 percent may not seem so huge when you consider all of the alcohol being consumed by the United States each year, but remember that 11 percent are all teens and kids under the legal drinking age. However drinking is not the only path teenagers can choose out of boredom. Teenagers are also turning to drugs of all sorts no matter what kind of drug it is. As a matter of fact it is estimated that 3,300 try marijuana for the first time every day in the United States alone. A study has done that found that 12th graders who smoke marijuana are 65 percent more likely to get in a car accident. In addition 51.7 teenagers 10th grade through 12th grade have smoked pot sometime between the last month to the last year. Furthermore though marijuana is not the only drug that teenagers are using there is also cocaine and heroin. As a matter of fact 2.5 percent of teens have been caught up in cocaine use of some sort. On top of that did you know that the average treatment age for a heroin addiction is 23 is most people getting addicted in their teens. Regrettably another serious issue that costs hundreds of lives a

In today’s society there is an enormous amount of research being conducted throughout the world. A great many of those studies are occurring on Universities and campuses, in this paper, analysis of one such study will be reviewed. The article is an evaluation of a Juvenile Drug Court Program in Lexington, Kentucky. The data that is coming from the Bureau of Justice suggests that juvenile courts process a higher volume of cases today than at any time in the past (Hayden, 2012) These statistics represent the trend in persistently high rates in use of illegal substances among adolescents in the United States and subsequent juvenile court involvement.

Among adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, 9.8 % are estimated to be current users of illicit drugs, with 4.9 % using drugs other than marijuana. Nearly three quarters of students have started to drink alcohol and nearly half (47%) have tried using an illicit drug (not including alcohol or tobacco) by the senior year of high school.” (Hassan, Harris, Sherritt, Van Hook, & Brooks, 2009)

Drug use is an increasing problem among teenagers in today's high schools. Most drug use begins in the teenage years, these years are the most crucial in the maturing process. During these years adolescents are faced with the difficult tasks of discovering their self identity, clarifying their sexual roles, assenting independence, learning to cope with authority figures and searching for goals that would give their lives meaning. Drugs are readily available, adolescents are curious and venerable, and there is peer pressure to experiment, and there is a temptation to escape from conflicts. The use of drugs by teenagers is the result of a combination of factors such as peer pressure, curiosity, and

It has been discovered that most people who struggle with drug addiction began experimenting with drugs in their teens. Teenage drug abuse is one of the largest problems in society today and the problem grows and larger every year. Drugs are a pervasive force in our culture today. To expect kids not to be influenced by the culture of their time is as unrealistic as believing in the tooth fairy (Bauman 140). Teens may feel pressured by their friends to try drugs, they may have easy access to drugs, they may use drugs to rebel against their family or society, or they may take an illegal drug because they are curious about it or the pleasure that it gives them.

Along with the mental and physical issues drugs and alcohol can cause, teenagers are also unaware of the legal consequences that come along with being caught with these substances. Being a minor in possession of alcohol or drugs can be charged with hefty fines, and even incarceration. If drugs or alcohol are in possession or being used at school, students can expect to receive a suspension, crossroads, or even expulsion. They can also be removed from any clubs, teams, and certain classes. The only reason students have knowledge of these consequences is from observing the outcome others face after they get caught. At this age, we should know the consequences before an incident occurs