...of Prescription Drug Abuse among Teens | Prescription Drug Epidemic Among Teens | Walden University | | Reasons and Prevention Strategies for Prescription Drug Abuse among Teens Overview Increasing abuse of prescription drugs among teens can be attributed to psychological, environmental, or behavioral conditions.Drug abuse in teens can be linked to other disorders or conditions which lead to drug abuse. Teens who abuse drugs are likely to become adults who abuse drugs. It is necessary to understand and address these underlying issues if successful prevention is to happen. First it is necessary to understand the magnitude of the problem 2.3 million Teens were abusing prescription drugs in 2003. (Controlled Prescription Drug Abuse at Epidemic Level, 2006) This is a very large number of teens abusing potentially addictive and deadly drugs. These numbers indicate a major problem with the potential to rapidly grow out of control if not addressed appropriately. In fact recent studies have found there has been an increase in prescription drug abuse among teens at an alarming rate. From 2005 to 2008 there was a 12% increase in prescription drug abuse among teens. (Elliot, Souder, Privette, &Richardson, 2008) This is a very large increase in a very short period of time. An increase such as this calls for further explanations on why this increase occurred so rapidly. Prevention methods need to be developed to avert teens from a life time of addiction. Teens who...
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...prohibited drugs. Whereas numerous of young teenagers by no means take their drug usage farther than the experimentation level, far too many will persist to absorb in this treacherous behavior until their drug abuse interrupts their lives. The most prevalent drugs of abuse among teenagers include alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drugs as well as common over-the-counter medications such as cough syrups containing pseudoephedrine and inhalants. This paper focuses on the drug abuse of prescription medications among teenagers from age 13 to 18 that has emerged as a public health concern and one that has evolved into epidemic levels. This seeks to elevate the visibility of the elapsed challenges, and problems associated with this epidemic. Prescription Medication Abuse: A Public Health Threat There is a compelling rationale that prescription medications are intentionally to be taken under the direction of a physician because if improperly consume these can be hazardous. Subsequently, teens are crafting decision to abuse prescription medications based on lack of information. In fact, numerous teens assumed that prescription medication abuse is safer than abusing illicit medications. Unfortunately, drug abuse pertaining to medication prescription is on the rise. This is the primary reason why this is relevant to me, more over because I have two teenagers. In 2004, approximately 15 million Americans between the ages of 12 and up took prescription medication...
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...my paper on is teenagers and drugs. Drug use and abuse is bad for all parties involved (adults and teenagers). But it is really destroying our teens. Today it is so easy for teenagers to obtain just about any type of drug that they would want. These drugs include marijuana(also known as weed, pot, kush, loud, etc..), methamphetamine (also known as meth, crystal, christine, christina, speed, ice, etc…), cocaine, crack, herion, PCP, sherm, ecstasy or molly’s, and lastly a very long list of prescription drugs. Anything that has a way in causing addiction in my opinion is a problem and needs to be at the front of the line to be addressed especially when it comes to our children. Teens use to have to go out into the streets and search for the drug of choice, but today many of use parents are bringing the drugs right to them and into our homes and giving our children an in home supply without even knowing it. Yes the drugs are right there in our bathroom medicine cabinets, on our dressers, and even in our purses. They are also readily available at just about any store that sells cold medicine. Something needs to be done soon before even more children/teens become addicted and even worse lose their lives due to your common cold medicines and pain killers. After marijuana, prescription drugs are the drugs most commonly abused by teenagers, the federal agency says (Los Angeles Times, 2005). Prescription drug use among teens continues to be on the rise...
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...Interstate Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs - A Priority Issue for Partnership for a Drug Free America Abstract One ongoing priority of the Partnership for a drug free America (PDFA) is supporting Prescription drug Monitoring Programs (PDMP). With adolescent prescription drug abuse on the rise PDFA started a 5- year campaign called the Medicine abuse project to prevent teen prescription drug abuse. A vital tool taking precedence in this project is ensuring that Interstate prescription drug monitoring programs are implemented, utilized, and funded in all 50 states. PDFA points to research from the CDC showing the rise of prescription drug abuse amongst teens ,and their recommendation for using prescription drug monitoring programs to gain control over this epidemic. In supporting PDMPs, The Partnership for a Drug Free America is rallying with the Congressional caucus on prescription drug abuse and their initiatives to support nationally interconnected PDMPs. Recently, PDFA has received a great deal of backlash, and their motives for supporting interstate PDMPs have come into question. Mainly, because of their financial support from Pharma Pharmaceuticals. However, PDFA address all funding questions responding that Pharma provides funding solely for educational grants. The use of Interstate PDMPs comes into controversy with states like Florida, suggesting that utilizing interstate PDMPs violates...
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...Teens and Drugs Robert Lorenz COM/156 May 13, 2012 Patrick Misiti Teens and Drugs At the age of 12 I picked up a gun and shot and killed my sister’s best friend. I chose many things to try to cover up this pain that was created. I was building a wall around me as I was moving into my teenage years. At this time in my life my mother thought I should start learning about responsibilities, without thinking about what I had just went through. She wanted me to try to keep my brother and sister from doing things that they should not do. With all this placed on my shoulders, my teenage years flew by so fast; I had no time to figure out who I was. In today’s society we all live in a fast pass world, including our children. With this in mind it takes both parents to work to get all the bills paid on time and be able to save for retirement. What this has created is teenagers are held responsible for their younger siblings and left home alone. With this much responsibility, teenagers are growing up to fast and have too much freedom. With this freedom come more problems. Teenagers today are finding ways to deal with these problems and escape from the responsibilities placed on their shoulders. Young people are looking for anything to escape the reality of these responsibilities. Even though street drug use is down, drugs are easy for children and teenagers to get even from their own home. With the problems that teens face today, such as maintaining grades, finals, not...
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...The Drug Abuse Epidemic and Today’s Teenagers Drug abuse among teenagers has been an issue since the 1980’s when programs such as D.A.R.E., (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), were implemented. Using the slogan “Just Say No”, the program trained school officials and police officers to teach techniques and children and adolescents effective ways to resist experimenting with all drugs, including tobacco and alcohol. While there has been some success, this epidemic has become a major problem in today’s society that is not getting better due to the availability of prescription and over the counter medications, continued funding cuts for athletics and other extra-curricular activities and the increase in teenagers being left unsupervised. The availability of prescription and over the counter medications has made abuse easier among teens. Many parents do not even realize the dangers that are in their own medicine cabinets. “In 2011, 22% of 12th graders indicated misuse of a prescription drug without medical supervision in their lifetime; and 15% over the past year.” During that same time, one in 12 high school seniors reported that in the past year they had obtained the prescription pain reliever Vicodin, and one in 20 high school seniors used OxyContin for non-medical uses. And 70% of those teens surveyed had stated they obtained them from family and friends. (“Prescription” 2011). “Enough prescription painkillers were prescribed in 2010 to medicate every American adult around-the-clock...
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...DRAFT- TEEN DRUG ABUSE It is a vulnerable time of life as teens navigate the precious bridge between childhood and adulthood. One of the most challenging issue for this young age group that is ill prepared to make unwisely decisions, such as using and abusing drugs. Teenage substance abuse can greatly alter behavior. It aslo can cause a change in their brain which can lead to addiction and other serious health problems. Though some teens who use drugs do not progress to become abusers, or addicts in adulthood, drug use can put teens in a very serious position, even to a small degree of substance abuse can have negative consequences. School and relationships, notably family relationships are among the life areas that are most influenced by drug use and abuse. There are many possible reason your teen may turn to drugs and abuse it. One practical reason or excuse can be peer pressure. Peer pressure is a powerful force at any stage of life, but it is very influential during adolescence. The desire to be accepted by those around you such as your friends or a friend of friend can lead to that. Spending times with your friends could be fun sometimes but what is not fun is sharing intensely pleasurable drug induced euphoria. The effects can be entertaining at the moment and could make great stories the next day or down the road, until someone gets seriously injured. A desire to try something new because of curiosity can be very intense. Sometimes the parents who may also abuse drugs...
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...Drugs and technology While it is almost impossible to get an actual percentage of people affected by drug addiction, the use continues to grow. Most people will admit to trying some form of illegal drug, but addicts have a hard time even coming to grasp that they are addicted. Our society has been struggling with addiction for hundreds of years. Those affected vary in age, and are not limited to adults. According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2011), there are approximately 27 million Americans today that either use illicit drugs regularly or are “heavy drinkers”. Sixteen million of these are in need of immediate treatment for their addiction problem. By the age of 18 almost 12 percent of young people in America are addicted to drugs. Statistics also show that about 70 percent of users who are employed contribute significantly to absenteeism in the work place, workplace accidents, workplace injuries, decreased productivity, increased insurance premiums, and large employee turnover and violence in the workplace. The total estimated cost to our society in America for substance abuse exceeds 250 billion dollars per year. Addiction has become prominent as one of the worst health and social problems in the United States today. (coachinginternational.com) Through the last two decades, addiction rates in the United States have increased significantly because of the advancements in Information Technology. Social networking, internet access...
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...of Prescription Drugs is credible. The article has nine authors. The authors all have Ph.Ds. The authors are affiliated with The Medical University of South Carolina, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and The VA Medical Center.(McCauley et al., 2009) The study was credible because the study was currently up to date and has been an issue.Knowing that the authors have background knowledge of medical history, studies, and other related knowledge to do the study and know what to look for helped estimate the possible results. The study had many participants nationally, which made the study and authors credible and more evident.Using the article helped explain why this is a problem...
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...Most of us respect prescription drugs, mainly used for the reason the doctor intended. Understanding problems, pitfalls and the magnitude prescription drug abuse and misuse has on today’s society. Medical society estimates the number as high as 40 million people (aged 12 and older); have used drugs for nonmedical reasons in their lifetime. Making nonmedical use of prescription drugs a defining drug dilemma of the new century. The management of chronic pain is an art and a science, according to the Center of Disease Control (CDC). Nevertheless, the opioid epidemic has received substantial publicity and policy makers are more aggressively trying to combat the problem. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the three classes of...
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...STATISTICS - TEEN DRUG USE, ABUSE AND ADDICTION In 2008, among persons with substance dependence or abuse, the proportion with dependence on or abuse of illicit drugs also was associated with age: 60.6 percent of youths aged 12 to 17 were dependent on or abused drugs compared with 37.4 percent of young adults aged 18 to 25 and 24.3 percent of adults aged 26 or older. Ages of Teens Vs Types of Drugs Used: Among youths aged 12 to 17, the types of drugs used in the past month varied by age group. Among 12 or 13 year olds, 1.5 percent used prescription-type drugs (xanax, Percocet, oxycontin, etc) nonmedically, 1.2 percent used inhalants (huffing aerosols), and 1.0 percent used marijuana. Among 14 or 15 year olds, marijuana was the most commonly used drug (5.7 percent), followed by prescription-type drugs used nonmedically (3.0 percent), inhalants (1.3 percent), and hallucinogens (1.0 percent). Marijuana also was the most commonly used drug among 16 or 17 year olds (12.7 percent); it was followed by prescription-type drugs used nonmedically (4.0 percent), hallucinogens (1.6 percent), cocaine (0.7 percent), and inhalants (0.7 percent). Persons 12 and older, classified with substance dependence, addiction, or abuse in 2008: In 2008, an estimated 22.2 million persons aged 12 or older were classified with substance dependence or abuse in the past year (8.9 percent of the population aged 12 or older). Of these, 3.1 million were classified with dependence on or abuse of both...
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... Rough Draft Turner Comp 2 Is Prescription Drug Abuse an Epidemic? Many people especially the younger generation, ages starting at twelve years old have turned to the abuse of prescription drugs. The most commonly misused prescription drugs are painkillers (opioids), antidepressants, and anxiety medication. People claim addiction is a choice, but according to science addiction is considered a brain disease due to the fact that it alters the brain permanently by changing the structure of the brain itself and how it works. Some say the huge sting made over prescription drug abuse is all over exaggerated and they blame the media. But how can you make the claim that the abuse of prescription drugs isn’t a huge epidemic? The 2010 Nation Survey of Drug use and Health states that 2.4 million Americans have used prescription drugs non medically within the last year with ages 18-25 being the highest of users. Evidence proves that prescription drug abuse is an epidemic in the United States today, and those who disagree rely on blaming the media for falsely portraying the intensity of prescription drug abuse. People often think everything is okay as long as it’s not right in front of their faces, and too many people have turned a blind eye to this dangerous addiction. It is time for people to realize the real issues prescription drug abuse is causing and how quickly it has become such a dangerous epidemic. How did this epidemic...
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...Substance Abuse and Psychosis in Adolescents Over the past several decades, the U.S. population has grown significantly and continues to do so at a rapid pace. The most recent U.S. Census Bureau figures estimate that the population in the United States is currently nearing 304,800,000. Of this tremendous number, approximately one quarter are children under that age of eighteen years and over 40 million are adolescents (U.S. Census Bureau, 2001a). For the purpose of this examination, we will define adolescents as individuals between the ages of ten and eighteen years, although it is important to keep in mind that there are many different definitions and understandings of adolescents, most of which are not as directly related to chronological age (Santrock, 2001). Adolescents are a very special population because these are often the years in which childhood and adulthood become blurred, roles, expectations and needs change, as well as significant physical and psychological growth. As we also know, experimentation is often characteristic of adolescence and this experimentation can be physical, sexual or philosophical; all of which may possibly lead to drug use. This paper seeks to examine the question of whether or not drug abuse is related to psychosis in adolescents. Literature Review Adolescent Drug Use According to a national study in 2006, over 60 percent of reported that drugs were used, kept and sold on their school campuses on a regular basis. ...
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...The Effect of Modern Drugs on Today’s Youth Children and the Law Seminar It’s nearing finals time and students across campus are beginning to feel the anxiety with exams over the horizon. While many students hit the books to quash this feeling, others search for something more. Whispers soliciting a need for Adderall resonate throughout the halls. These students don’t have prescriptions for their drug of choice, but this doesn’t deter them. They know that the risk in purchasing and ingesting this “study buddy” is far outweighed by the extreme focus and potentially high exam scores it may bring. It’s not that these students are ignorant of the law; it is quite the contrary. These situations are now so commonplace that today’s youth perceives the law to be a technicality in their search to find a means to an end. This pervading attitude should come as no surprise to most adults. For as long as human history has been recorded, drugs have defined and reflected the attitudes of their era. In the 1920’s, alcohol was placed under prohibition and Americans were looking to every which way to circumvent this federal regulation. In the 1930’s, reefer madness swept the country and marijuana was criminalized. The 1960’s marked the era of a rising counter-culture fueled by the psychedelic drug LSD. Even the cocaine boom of the 1970’s and 1980’s define a period of American history marked by high crime rates and an evolving nightlife. Today’s society is no different. In many ways, people...
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...The Truth Uncovered Substance Abuse within our communities pose a severe threat to society. The United States is consumed with dissatisfied people who are unable to cope with the struggles in their life, so they coat their problems with powder . They consider drugs to be a victimless crime, and argue that it should be their choice in what they do with their body, and life. As true as this may be, sometimes people need to be protected from themselves, and their irrational, uneducated decisions. People often become victims to their own crimes, and in the end they pay the ultimate price. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, approximately 7 million Americans abuse prescription drugs, and roughly 6.3 million report they...
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