Why Teenagers Take DRUGS...???

When teenagers use drugs, one of the first questions parents ask is why. There are thousands of potential reasons that adolescents get involved with drugs or alcohol. Here are 10 of the most common reasons:
 
1. Stress
According to the Partnership for a Drug-Free America’s 2007 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS), the number-one reason why teens use drugs is to deal with school stress. An accompanying study showed that parents severely underestimate the amount of stress their teen is under and the impact it has on their life.

2. Social Acceptance

When they were young, your children wanted nothing more than to please you. Now that they have become teenagers, they want nothing more than to please their peers. In previous PATS studies, the majority of teens (65 percent) reported using drugs to “feel cool.”
Teens’ self-worth depends on the approval of others, even if they know their behaviors are destructive and counter-productive. If your teen’s friends think it’s cool to use drugs or alcohol, or if your teen is searching for a peer group that will accept them, they may be lured into drug use by their desire for social acceptance.

3. Low Self-Esteem

Another common reason teens cite for using drugs, according to PATS studies, is to feel better about themselves. Teens who have low self-esteem are at high risk for falling in with the wrong crowd and using drugs.

4. Curiosity

Adolescence is a time for trying to establish an identity separate from one’s parents. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry describes adolescence as a "time for trying new things." Some teens use alcohol and drugs because they’re curious about how drugs will make them feel and want to try everything life has to offer, even if it puts their future at risk.

5. Self-Medication

Some teens experiment with drugs and find the euphoria to be too enjoyable to resist. Problems at home, in school or with friends may seem to disappear when using drugs.
Although they may not know it, teens may be suffering from an underlying mental illness that they are trying to medicate by abusing illegal, prescription or over-the-counter drugs. Getting appropriate treatment for an illness like depression or anxiety may offer enough relief to dissuade teens from abusing drugs.

6. Boredom

Teenagers need stimulation and in some ways are programmed for thrill-seeking. This need can be met through involvement in healthy activities like sports, clubs, volunteer work or part-time employment, or it can be met in unhealthy ways like drug use. A bored teen is more likely to take risks that put their well-being in jeopardy.

7. Parental Influence

According to the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), parents are the key to keeping teens off drugs. By setting rules and monitoring their children, parents can lower the risk of teen substance abuse.
If your teen sees you, a friend’s parent or another authority figure using drugs, they may think the behavior is normal and acceptable. According to CASA’s National Survey of American Attitudes on Substance Abuse XIV: Teens and Parents, teens who have seen their parents drunk are more than twice as likely to get drunk in a typical month, and three times more likely to use marijuana and smoke cigarettes than teens who have not. If you drink or use drugs or expect that your teen will use drugs, chances are they will.
Teens need their parents and other adults to take a clear stand against drug use and encourage rising to challenges in positive ways.

8. Ease of Access

Drugs are relatively easy to come by, especially prescription pills and over-the-counter medications. Most teens report getting these drugs from their parents’ medicine cabinet or from friends. Because of the ease of access, abuse of prescription pain medications by teens is on the rise.
Once teens start using drugs, it can be difficult to stop. With extended use, teens can develop a psychological and physical dependence on drugs, which can escalate into a full-blown addiction.

9. Attention

Sometimes the “bad kids” get all of the attention. Parents, teachers and other adults tend to spend more time dealing with troublemakers than praising teens for living up to or exceeding expectations.
In some cases, parents are too busy with work, siblings or each other to give a teen as much attention as they crave. Rather than asking for more quality time with you, teens will act out.
Drug use also may be a sign that your teen has given up on personal success. If your teen has been disappointed with their performance in school, sports or their social life, they may feel that risk-taking is the only area in which they can achieve success.

10. Addiction

Addiction is a disease with a strong genetic component. It is possible for a teen to be predisposed to addiction, and for the disease to rear its head when certain emotional and environmental factors come together.
Drugs are a threat to every adolescent and every family. Whatever reason your teen has for using drugs or alcohol, the behavior is risky and illegal and requires your attention. In some cases, professional assistance from a teen substance abuse treatment program may be necessary.

SMOKING TEENAGERS

The differences between subjective feelings of those who smoke and those who don’t are shown in behavioral changes that are more apparent in teens than adults. Teens seem to be more abrasive when smoking or they feel like they are older and wiser when they smoke. Why do they smoke when we have seen billions of dollars spent on antismoking campaigns? The American Lung Association estimates that every minute four thousand eight hundred teens will take their first drag off a cigarette. Of those four thousand eight hundred, about two thousand will go on to be chain smokers. The fact that teen smoking rates are steadily increasing is disturbing. We are finding out that about 80% of adult smokers started smoking as teenagers.

   

We now see a lot of smokers giving each other rewards in social aspects such as conversations, companionships, and other common social contacts. Research has proven the fact that nicotine has the ability to suppress feelings, suppress appetite for food, is used as stimulation after sex, and is a good way to relax from troubles and feelings of insecurities.  People that smoke go to designated areas and congregate around the one that has the light, even when the weather is sub-zero. There they are huddled up against each other in an area, taking in the last drag before the break is over, or they find some kind of shelter to smoke their cigarettes.

   

Teens like to act as if they are someone special or dangerous. By smoking they can act on those feelings. Because it is so forbidden it becomes more alluring to teens. The problem is that when they take that first puff, they can become addicted. The idea that they are breaking the law or going against their parents and schools is an addiction within itself. Kids like to get attention; it does not matter if it’s good attention or bad attention. They crave attention and by smoking they get big attention. The other teens look at them in all kinds of ways and the adults get upset and don’t know what to do.

   
Nicotine is considered the number one entrance drug into other substance abuse problems. Research shows that teens between 13 and 17 years of age who smoke daily are more likely to use other drug substances. The use of other drugs is part of the peer pressure that our children have to face. The earlier that our youth begin using tobacco, the more likely they will continue using into adulthood.

Why is tobacco so addicting? It is because nicotine acts as a stimulant, which is stimulating the mind, body, and spirit. When the body tolerance levels high then one ends up needing to use larger doses of nicotine to maintain a certain level of the physiological effect. When the body becomes accustomed to the presence of nicotine, it then requires the use of the chemical to help the body to function normally. This  level of dependence is referred to as an addiction. 

 
    Here are some common experiences from teens who smoke.

♣    They tried their first cigarette in sixth or seventh grade

♣    They often do not perform well in school

♣    They feel like they are not a part of the school

♣    They become isolated from other students

♣    They can’t perform as well at sports events

♣    They feel like they have little hope of going to college

♣    They feel like they need a job to support their smoking habit

♣    They are reported to school officials for skipping classes

♣    They start using other illegal substances

♣    They begin experimenting with alcohol and other drugs

♣    They experience pressure from home and school and use tobacco as a form of relief

♣    Teen smokers enjoy trying to hide their smoking

This has made school more fun for some tobacco users. These types of behaviors get attention because the initiation of smoking is influenced by having a friend, particularly a best friend, who smokes. The risk factors do not apply because those who are young think that they are indispensable. The peers who use or have favorable attitudes toward tobacco use are more likely to use other illegal substances. On the other hand, if the teen becomes a member of a pro-social group, such as those participating in sports, cheerleading, or any club that promotes healthy living, the likelihood that the teen will attempt to stop smoking improves.  

    The amount of teens smoking cigarettes dropped about 28% in 2001. The following are some reasons why:

a)    The increase of cost in the retail price of cigarettes has gone up 70%

b)    The schools have implemented efforts to fight the use of tobacco (teen smoking).

c)    There is an increase in youth exposure to both state and national mass media campaigns.

d)    The truth on the effects of nicotine that are in tobacco products.

When tobacco companies lost the lawsuit that made them pay for anti-smoking ads, they raised the cost of cigarettes. Young people are having a harder time finding ways to smoke because smokers are paying top dollar for their cigarettes. We are also seeing teens speak out in the media and in person and they have been capturing the attention of their peers and changing attitudes about how un-cool and unhealthy teen smoking is.

    The times are changing; what the public and science did not know twenty years ago is now coming to the surface. The fact is that smoking cigarettes can cause many health problems including emphysema, high blood pressure, and various forms of cancer. We are seeing people live longer and healthier lives and the old idea that smoking makes you cool and attractive is gone. This is the truth about cigarettes; they are loaded with harmful chemicals and the end result is that they are a dangerous drug that can seriously harm people.