Teen Drug Abuse Research Paper

With many states legalizing recreational marijuana, it can seem like kids smoking weed is a non-issue. In reality, marijuana serves as a gateway drug to more addictive, more harmful substances. In addition, kids smoking weed can lead to problems with the way that their brain develops. The human mind does not stop forming until the mid-20s, so early marijuana use can inhibit the mind 's ability to function. Why Kids Smoking Weed Is a Problem

The article, “Bad mix for the teen brain,” by Janet Hopson, reviews many different surveys conducted by psychiatry researchers at various universities. Each survey tracked varying numbers of 12-14 year olds for a duration of time. These researchers found out that the teenage brain, particularly the prefrontal cortex, has not reached full maturity. The prefrontal cortex is just behind the forehead and controls the, “ability to stop oneself from acting impulsive…” (Hopson, 2013) The effects of drinking in young adolescents is very harmful to the brain.

It also affects learning, judgment, decision making, stress, memory, and behavior. Biology, Environment, and Development can all increase the risk of addiction. Early exposure to a home can cause children

Even though teens and young adults consume alcohol does not mean that it is a right thing to do, it can be dangerous and harmful to your body. To clarify, alcohol drinking can interfere with the development of the young adult brain. With that being said it can interfere with controlling anger, fear, and your happiness. The more permanent effects can be memory loss and weakness in your muscles and bones. In fact, lowering the drinking age would let more use of illegal drugs.

Adolescents often have a very difficult time transitioning from youth to adulthood. Often times, they attempt to cope with a variety of stressors they experience by engaging in dangerous and harmful activities. Using a logistic regression analysis, a study lead by Anthony Spirito, Ph. D found “A significant portion of adolescents (approximately 15%) reported injuries associated with substance abuse. Adolescents who reported a history of risk-taking behaviors were much more likely to report substance use-related injuries” (Spirito 113).

  Deaths by drug overdose is becoming worse at a quick pace. According to the National Center for

Several policies have been proposed to combat and slow down the endemic abuse of drug overdoses. However, for all the talk about ways of dealing with opioid abuse, there appears to be a limited discussion of the commonsense solution to preventing it from spreading. A popular policy has been a mandatory prescription of narcotic drugs for medical uses. However, it is better to address this problem from a different standpoint. Patients should not be viewed as the problem.

Exposure to drugs would have a negative impact on the health and development of a child. Furthermore, a dangerous community is a big stressor and will have a negative impact on the mental health and well being of youth in the

In others, neurons form more connections. (Martin, 2000) These brain changes can be long-lasting and can lead to the harmful behaviors seen in people who abuse drugs. Adolescents drug abuse coexist with other mental disorders, such as attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder, affective disorders,

According to Dr. Alvarez, there are numerous studies that demonstrates the physical damage to our brain and cardiovascular system from drug abuse. Surprisingly, statistics revealed for the first time that drugs has

Decreases in the number of abusers taking ecstasy and cannabis were observed in 2006 and 2007. On the contrary, the significant increase in numbers taking ice and cocaine since 2004 calls for attention (Narcotics Division of the Security Bureau,

Alcohol and Marijuana are the two most used substances amongst teens in recent years. Referring to the stated fact, it has been recently, that substance abuse among teens has been a prevalent issue. Teens have been using these substances due to things such as peer pressure, study aids, self medicating, etc; teens believe drugs will make them popular or get rid of painful feelings. However, drugs are harming teens more than they seem to believe. Significantly, this has been a big issue as substance abuse among teens ruins relationships, damages their biological development, and can lead to addiction.

Drugs can change the brain; they alter its structure and how it works. These brain changes can be long-lasting and can lead to many harmful, often self-destructive behaviors.10 The Dangerous Drugs Board of the Republic of the Philippines defines addiction as, “a complex, and often chronic, brain disease. It is characterized by excessive drug craving, seeking, and use.

Alcohol and Teens: The Effects of Teenage Drinking A 14-year-old girl named Takeimi Rao had a sleepover with 3 of her friends on a Saturday night. The mother of Takeimi took the girls out to eat a burger for dinner. At 2 am the mom woke up to find the 3 girls throwing, she cleaned them up and put them back to bed, she has thought it was the cause of the bad food. The following morning Takeimi was found passed out in her room, when the paramedics came she was found dead. The police believe it was due to alcohol posing, the house they lived in was rented and the owners had vodka in the kitchen and Takeimi parents didn 't want to throw it away so they just left it.

Teen drug use has become more and more of a problem each year. There are many drugs that teen’s use. There are also many reasons why teens use and use drugs. They may feel forced to use drugs if they are around their friends. They want to be cool and wind up following the crowd and can get pressured into doing drugs.