- A chaotic home environment, particularly where one or both parents abuse substances or
suffer from mental illness.
- Ineffective parenting, particularly with youth with conduct disorders or difficult
temperaments.
- Lack of mutual attachments and nurturing.
- Inappropriate, shy or aggressive behavior in the classroom.
- Failure in school or poor school performance.
- Poor social coping skills.
- Poor peer associations, drawn to peers with deviant behaviors.
- Perceptions of approval of drug-using behavior from the school, peers and community
environments.
According to the US Department of Health and Human Services: When
youth were asked why they used tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs, they answered most
often:
- To feel grown up.
- To rebel and take risks.
- To Fit in and belong.
- To relax and feel good.
- To feel different.
- To satisfy curiosity.
Adolescent Growth & Development
Use of alcohol, tobacco and illicit drugs, particularly in early and mid-adolescents,
interferes with physical, intellectual and emotional development of adolescents. Even
experimental use increases the chance of accidents, illness and death. Teen abuse of
alcohol and drugs can impair judgment, coordination and motor skills and inhibit
short-term memory and the ability to concentrate at a time when adolescents most need
these skills: when they are learning in school.
Over the long run, drug and alcohol use impairs intellectual development. Research
suggest that adolescent substance use may alter the behavior of neurotransmitters in the
brain. In addition, with greater long-term use the risk of cancer, liver disease, heart
disease and other debilitating and life threatening conditions increases.
As a teen's drug and alcohol use increase, there are other consequences that come into
play. Social relationships with family and friends begin to deteriorate. Continued use
engages a teen in a life style with peer groups that are more likely to become involved
with drugs like cocaine, met amphetamines and heron. Because drug use and drunk driving
are illegal activities and because there is a strong link between drug use and increased
criminal behavior, continue use may put a teen into the juvenile justice system.
Teen Addiction:
- Drug use Accelerates over time.
"You're paranoid in the beginning. You don't want to get caught. The more you
use, the more careless you get. You're read bold after awhile."
- Adolescents tend to use more than one drug at a time.
"I smoke party blunts. That's weed with crack, heroin and dust. Two hits and
you're done."
- Adolescents underestimate the power of drugs.
"I know a lawyer who does weed everyday and has a life. He's successful and
uses. I can too."
- Addictions is compulsive and obsessive.
"Being on drugs is like eating. You can get away form it for awhile, but he
time will come when you have to do it again."
- Adolescent drug users develop a false sense of reality.
"What I do has nothing to do with my family."
- Teens active in their addiction are apathetic to consequences.
"I love heroin and cocaine. I just hate everything that goes with them. I just
don't acre. I learn new ways not to get caught."
- Teens suffer emotional death faster than adults.
" A 12 year old who uses drugs for eight years still has the emotional
maturity of age 12 when he is physically 20. That is if he is not dead by than."
- Tolerance increases with use.
"The more I used, the more I needed to use. You get use to it."
"The American Medical Association classifies addiction as a disease. Not
everyone has it. Using drugs does not make you an addict. Using drugs puts you at risk for
becoming an addict. My grandfather was an alcoholic and my father used drugs. I thought I
could and not be addicted. Man, that was stupid."
- Addiction is primary problem:
"Using drugs is a problem in itself. Separating the drug problem from all the
other problems is not possible."
"Everyone I used with is either in jail, in a program or are dead."
Drug Symptoms
- Marijuana: Glassy, red eyes; loud talking and inappropriate laughter
follower by sleepiness; a sweet burnt scent; loss of interest, motivation; weight gain or
loss.
- Alcohol: Clumsiness; difficulty walking; slurred speech;
sleepiness; poor judgment; dilated pupils; possession of a false I.D. card.
- Depressants: (including barbiturates and tranquilizers) Seems drunk
without the associated odor of alcohol; difficulty concentrating; clumsiness; poor
judgment; slurred speech; contracted pupils
- Stimulants: Hyperactivity: euphoria: irritability: excessive talking
followed by depression or excessive sleeping at odd times: mite go long periods of time
without eating or sleeping; dilated pupils; weight loss dry mouth and nose.
- Inhalants: Glues, aerosols, and vapors) Watery eyes; impaired vision,
memory and thought; secretions from the nose or rashes around the nose and mouth;
headaches and nausea; drowsiness; poor muscle control; changes in appetite; anxiety;
irritability, nausea; drowsiness; poor muscle control; changes in appetite; anxiety;
irritability.
- Hallucinogens: Dilated pupils; bizarre and irrational behavior
including paranoia, aggression, hallucination; mood swings: detachment from others
absorption in self or objects; slurred speech; confusion.
- Heroin: Needle marks' sleeping at unusual times; sweating;
vomiting; coughing and sniffling; twitching; loss of appetite; contracted pupils; no
response of pupils to light.
Physical Signs
- Loss of appetite, increase in appetite, any changes in eating habits, unexplained weight
loss or gain.
- Slowed or staggering walk; poor physical coordination.
- Inability to sleep, awake at unusual times, unusual laziness.
- Red, watery eyes; pupils larger or smaller than usual; blank stare.
- Cold, sweaty palms; shaking hands.
- Puffy face, blushing or paleness.
- Smell of substance on breath, body or clothes.
- Extreme hyperactivity; excessive talkativeness.
- Runny nose; hacking cough.
- Needle marks on lower arm, leg or bottom of feet.
- Nausea, vomiting or excessive sweating.
- Tremors or shakes of hands, feet or head.
- Irregular heartbeat.
Behavioral Signs
- Change in overall attitude/personality with no other identifiable causes.
- Changes in friends, hangouts and avoidance of parents elders and authority figures.
- Friends are known or suspected drug users.
- Change of activates and hobbies.
- Drop in performance at school or at work.
- Is late for or skips school or work.
- Difficulty paying attention, forgetfulness.
- General lack of motivation, energy, self-esteem, "I don't care" attitude.
- Sudden over sensitivity, temper tantrums, or resentful behavior.
- Moodiness, irritability, or nervousness.
- Silliness or giddiness
- Paranoia
- Excessive need for privacy or unreachable.
- Secretive or suspicious behavior.
- Car accidents.
- Unexplained need for money, stealing money or items.
- Change in personal grooming habits.
- Possession of drug paraphernalia.
It is important to keep in mind that if a child shows any of these symptoms, it does
not necessarily mean that he or she is using drugs. The presence of some of these
behaviors could be the product of normal adolescent stress. Others may be symptoms of
depression or a host of other problems. Whatever the cause, they may warrant attention,
especially if they occur in a cluster or persist. The key is change and knowing the child
well enough to be aware of significant changes in his or her physical appearance,
personality, attitude or behavior. As a parent or a concerned and caring adult, trust your
instincts. If something seems to be wrong, it probably is. Take the time to find out.
"It is better to be wrong and apologize than to be right and eulogize".
Gateway Drugs
For many teens, a progression towards using increasingly dangerous substances starts
with cigarettes and alcohol moves to marijuana and then on to other illicit drugs. When
teens start to use nicotine, alcohol and marijuana, no one can predict who will go on to
use other illicit drugs. What can be predicted is that, for those teens that do use these
dangerous substances, there is a much greater likelihood that they will go on to use other
illicit drugs.
Two important conclusions came out of this work:
- The earlier a teen starts using cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana, the greater the
likelihood that the teen will use other illicit drugs.
- The more frequently a teen uses cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana, the greater the
likelihood that the teen will use other drugs.
In general, this report found that teens that used these three substances were over 30%
more likely to use other illicit drugs as compared to teens that report using none of
these substances. For these reasons, alcohol, nicotine and marijuana are referred to as
gateway drugs to other illicit drug use.
The Addiction Continuum
No teen that experiments with tobacco, alcohol or drugs expects to become addicted.
With the exception of crack cocaine users, most teens that experiment do not get hooked.
For an ever-increasing number, however, experimentation progresses to more regular use.
Initial use may be motivated by curiosity, thrill seeking or peer pressure. Eager to
appear cool and be one of the group, a teen may begin using dangerous substances socially
as a way to be accepted by peers.
Teens using drugs or alcohol quickly learn that particular substances can produce
certain pleasurable effects. Many then use alcohol, marijuana or other illicit drugs to
feel good, relieve stress or cope with difficult situations. This type of use is
considered "instrumental;" teens intentionally using certain substances to
manipulate their emotions and behavior.
These teens are in dangerous territory. From here, it's a short step to habitual use
and then into the stage of compulsive use of or addiction. No clear line separates these
final stages of addiction where substance use becomes the predominate means of recreation
and coping. Former interests drop away. New "friends" who use substances replace
old friends who don't use. Activities center on getting and using drugs. Teens in these
later stages of the addiction continuum continue to use drugs and alcohol despite negative
legal, social, physical and academic consequences.
In the "compulsive" or final stage of addiction, teens lose control over
their substance use. They become isolated from family and friends. They are preoccupied
with getting drunk or high. When a teen first starts drinking or using, they have choices
not to use. At this stage of addiction there is only one choice: continue to use. The teen
does not control the Substance; the substance controls the teen. Addicted teens live for
their drugs. If their addiction is left unchecked or untreated, the will die for their
drug.
