NCJ Number
179828
Date Published
1997
Length
159 pages
Annotation
This report examines the current prevalence of substance abuse among American teens and suggests how this dangerous behavior can be reduced by those who influence the attitudes, activities, and conduct of adolescents.
Abstract
The report advises that a combination of factors makes substance abuse a more serious problem to American adolescents than ever before in America's history; never have so many substances of potential abuse been so widely available to teens. With such ready availability, from 1992 to 1996 teen use of nicotine, marijuana, amphetamines, and other illicit drugs such as cocaine, heroin, acid, and inhalants has been increasing. Binge drinking has also begun to increase, particularly among younger teens. Marijuana use among teens has doubled in the past 3 years, and the marijuana they are smoking is far more potent than that of the 1960s. Smoking undermines the health of the cardiovascular system and the lungs; and recent scientific studies in America and in Europe have found that marijuana, nicotine, and alcohol produce similar kinds of changes in brain chemistry as cocaine, heroin, and amphetamines. Because dangerous substances are so available to children and youth in spite of law enforcement efforts to reduce their availability, it is critical to provide programs for children and teens that help them develop the knowledge, skill, and will to resist the enticements to use dangerous drugs. This responsibility falls on those who have the greatest influence on adolescents: parents, teachers, peers, clergy, doctors, and the trend-setting entertainment, fashion, and advertising industries. This report makes suggestions for fulfilling this responsibility. Chapter references