NCJ Number
169955
Date Published
1998
Length
112 pages
Annotation
This volume examines the problem of drug abuse among youth in the United States, discusses specific drugs and why they are used, describes the consequences of drug use, and explains ways to prevent and treat drug abuse.
Abstract
The text notes that 13.3 percent of the approximately 22 million teenagers in the United States used illicit drugs regularly in 1996. Teenage drug use has increased 105 percent since 1992. Tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana are considered gateway drugs, because they are most often used before a person progresses to stronger drugs. Alcohol is the drug most widely used by teenagers. People ages 12-17 who use all 3 gateway drugs are 266 times more likely to use drugs such as cocaine than young people who never used a gateway drug. Youth take drugs to experiment, to escape stress, to respond to peer pressure, and for other reasons. Drugs affect health, emotional development, family relations, schoolwork, and other areas of the young person's life. Drug prevention programs include school-based prevention and education programs such as life skills training, parent efforts, and community programs. Recognition and treatment of drug abuse entails awareness of the specific indicators of drug use, followed by confrontation and intervention and entry into one of many possible forms of drug treatment. Photographs, index, list of suggested further readings, addresses and descriptions of resource organizations, and 56 references