Teen Drug Abuse (cont.)
What are some statistics on teenage drug use?
- In the U.S., about 3,000 teens smoke their first tobacco cigarette each
day. About one-third of those adolescents become daily smokers.
- In 2004, the
percentage of adolescents who have used any drug in the past month was about 27%.
- As of 2002, about one-third of 10th-graders used marijuana in the past
year. Nearly one-fifth of 10th-graders said they used it in the past month.
- In
2002, about 2% of 10th-graders had used cocaine in the past year,
3% had used opiates, 13% had used inhalants, nearly 5% had used a club drug (for example, "Ecstasy"), and about
2% had used
anabolic steroids.
- While the use of most drugs by teenagers has decreased
since 2001, the abuse of Oxycontin, a narcotic, has increased to 5% of
10th-graders in 2004.
What are the dangerous effects of drug use in teens?
Just a few of the many dangerous effects of drug use in adolescents include:
- Drugs of any kind decreases teens' ability to pay attention.
- 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.
- Juveniles who use drugs are more likely to have
unprotected sex, sex with a stranger, as well as to engage in sexual activity at
all.
- Substance use can cause or mask other emotional problems, like anxiety,
depression, mood swings, or hallucinations (for example, hearing or seeing things).
Either of those illnesses can result in death by suicide or homicide.
- 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.
- Depending on how the body takes in and processes each kind 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, halted breathing from sedatives. Any of these
problems can result in death.
Next: How can parents prevent drug use? »
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus - Read about HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) causes, symptoms, signs, treatment, prevention, transmission, facts, testing, research (vaccine), statistics and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).
- Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism - Learn alcohol abuse and alcoholism causes, symptoms, treatment and medication facts. What are warning signs of a drinking problem? Is this a hereditary disease?
- Drug-Induced Liver Disease - Prescription medications and drugs, over-the-counter medications, vitamins, hormones, herbs, recreational drugs, and environmental toxins can cause drug-induced liver disease.
Latest Medical News
|
|
 |
From WebMD
Substance Abuse & Recovery Resources
Featured Centers
|
Kids Health RSS