Teenage Drug Abuse

Teens abuse all types of drugs including over the counter medications, inhalants, marijuana, and alcohol and are prone to prescription drug abuse, particularly of painkillers like OxyContin and Hydrocodone. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2006, more than 16 million Americans aged 12 and older had taken a prescription pain reliever, tranquilizer, stimulant, or sedative for nonmedical purposes at least once in the year prior to being surveyed. Depending on how the body absorbs and processes each type of drug, substances of abuse can affect virtually every one of the body's systems. Examples of this include permanent brain damage associated with inhalants, heart attack or stroke from stimulants and halted breathing from sedatives. Any one of these problems can result in death.

Despite the severity of the consequences linked to substance abuse, nearly 7 million people, or 2.8% of the U.S. population age 12 or older had used prescription medications for nonmedical purposes in the month prior to the survey. In particular, teens who use drugs are more likely to have unprotected sex, sex with a stranger, as well as engage in sexual activity. In 2008, nearly 2 million youth between the ages of 12 and 17 abused prescription drugs. Most teens who abuse drugs will not view their drug use as a problem. Unfortunately, the younger a person is when they begin using drugs the more likely they are to develop a substance-abuse problem and the more likely they are to relapse into drug abuse when trying to quit.

Prescription drugs often harbor multiple harmful effects on the body. For example, anabolic steroids have been associated with impotence in boys and men, clitoral enlargement in girls and women, as well as baldness, stunted growth, heart attacks, strokes, liver disease, cancer, acne and infections, including HIV/AIDS in both sexes. And while rates of illicit drug use are declining, the rate of prescription drug use remains high; more than 15 percent of high school seniors reported non-medical use of at least one prescription medication within the past year.

It is difficult for a teen to see when they have crossed the line from casual use to dependence or an addiction. As a parent, monitoring your medicine cabinet and controlling access to medications that can be abused will help keep your teen safe. However, it is also important to be vigilant in watching for common signs of drug abuse in teenagers including lying, making excuses, breaking curfew, staying in their room, becoming verbally or physically abusive toward others, having items in their possession that are connected to drug use (paraphernalia), the smell of drugs (eg. solvent smell of inhalants, marijuana smell) on them, mood swings, stealing and changes in friends, because more than 60% of teens said that drugs were sold, used or kept at their school.

Substance use can cause or mask other emotional problems such as anxiety, depression, mood swings, or hallucinations. These illnesses can result in death by suicide or homicide.