Introduction
Any situation or event negatively affecting a sizable portion of the population is considered a social issue. Among the many social issues, today is teenage drug abuse. Young people have always had to deal with the consequences and causes of drug usage. The use of drugs that interfere with the body’s regular processes is known as drug abuse. Such dangerous chemicals might lead to addiction when used excessively. Despite their best efforts, young individuals have discovered that they are powerless against the impulse to consume narcotics. The frequently abused drugs include alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, marijuana, and cigarettes. There are serious risks to one’s social, physical, and mental health associated with using illegal substances.
Drug problem is significant problem to explore because drug misuse is a severe social issue that impacts practically all communities. It results in millions of serious illnesses or injuries every year. Drug misuse frequently coexists with other disorders, such as mental illness. Although mental illness itself does not lead to drug usage, trying to treat its symptoms certainly does. Depression may become a role in drug abuse if a person with depression repeatedly takes it to get high to escape from a depressive condition. It also influences others, directly or indirectly, in addition to drug users. Therefore, this social problem is very important to address in the current society. All relevant authorities, as well as members of the community, must address these social challenges. Ignoring these issues will eventually harm society as a whole.
Literature Summary
When discussing it, it is easy to think of substance abuse as a sickness that affects the addict and their immediate family. The effects of addiction on society are extensive, influencing everything from health care to employment to the usage of jails and prisons. There is no getting around the truth that drug abuse is one of the things that ties Americans together. In 2018, more than 20 million people recently struggled with alcohol or drug usage (Simon et al., 2019). For instance, in the past year, one in every 13 individuals aged 12 and over has struggled with addiction. Drug overdose deaths are third on the list of preventable deaths in the US. Prisons and jails have been overcrowded since the 1970s when the war on drugs began.
Moreover, one-third of prisoners’ primary grounds for incarceration are non-violent drug offenses. It is accurate to claim that the War on Drugs has focused mostly on punishing drug users. Criminal charges such as possession significantly influence society and make it more difficult for people to get employment. More than 45 million people have been arrested due to the drug war, which has cost more than $1 trillion. Global problem escalation Illegal drugs both reflect and aggravate global tensions. Some of these tensions have been exacerbated by rapid fluctuations in political allegiance, a reduction in family and community cohesion, increased underemployment and unemployment social and economic marginalization, and rising criminality.
Relevant Policies
The social cognitive behavior explanation serves as a theoretical foundation for discussions on juvenile drug abuse among policymakers. According to policy experts, drug addiction in young people is a taught behavior they pick up from those around them. Teenage drug use is influenced by the environment as they mature. Since peer pressure and parent involvement are two of the most significant factors of teenage drug use, scholars and policy analysts employ this notion to address the social problem of young drug use. Young people’s current social and environmental conditions are to blame for the growth in drug use.
The number of youth misusing drugs at a young age has decreased, acknowledgements to numerous organizations and agencies. Some laws ensure cooperation in the fight against teen drug abuse, such as the 2003 National Research Council/Institute of Medicine effort. Under this initiative, drug abuse among young people was reduced by everyone—parents, community organizations, and the alcoholic beverage industry. In 1984, the “National Minimum Drinking Age Act” was enacted. From 18 to 21 is now the new legal drinking age. Congress created it in 2004 to fight drug abuse by educating the public about how parents can encourage their kids to engage in risky behaviors such as drug usage. Due to these limitations, drug usage by minors has significantly decreased.
Purpose
This study investigates the various factors contributing to young people abusing drugs and substances. What are the primary causes of drug and substance misuse among young people? What does the study aims to address in this research topic? The study aims to determine the biological, behavioral, and social factors influencing drug use and addiction at different life stages and their effects. There are numerous societal repercussions of drug use and misuse in society. The effects of drug misuse might include costs to children and families, links to crime, high drug costs, physical and mental health, and costs to the environment. When people use drugs abusively, they do so in ways or doses damaging to them or others. According to the Center for Substance Usage Prevention, drug abuse costs the American people a sizable sum each year, making it crucial to stop. Drugs are prominently featured in movies and television shows, which can excite and appeal to viewers, particularly teenagers. Teenagers are exposed to drug use through the Internet and other media. Talking with teenagers and their parents can help offset any positive portrayals of drug usage in the media.
Methodologies
This research illustrates findings from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health for important substance use and mental health indicators (NSDUH) (SAMHSA.gov, 2022). This study is based on 67,791 verified surveys from 2018 NSDUH respondents aged 12 and above (SAMHSA.gov, 2022). The research methodology involved secondary data analysis on the causes of drug and substance addiction in young people in the specified age ranges in journals where the scholarly publications appear between 2018 and 2020. It was discovered that journals and other academic publications had significant information about why young people take drugs. The search terms used were drug abuse and the causes of drug abuse among youths.
Results
By 2020, 37.309 million Americans aged 12 and up had used illegal substances (Almond & Cheng, 2020). From figure 1 above drug use among Americans aged 12 and older increased by 3.8% in the previous year to 13.5%. In the previous year, 59.277 million people, or 21.4% of those aged 12 and up, used illicit substances or misused prescribed pharmaceuticals (Schulenberg & Johnston, 2020). 138.543 million People, or 50.0% of those aged 12 and over, have used prohibited drugs at some point in their life. Users aged 12 and up have decreased by 0.4% year on year. The total amount of alcoholic beverages consumed in the United States is 138.522 million. Alcoholism affects 24% of the population, or 28.320 million individuals (Schulenberg & Johnston, 2020). 57.277 million People use tobacco or nicotine products (vape) whereas drug disorder affects 25.4% of individuals who use illicit drugs) (Schulenberg & Johnston, 2020). Opioid disorders, which include heroin and prescription “pain killers,” affect 24.7% of people with drug addictions.
Even with a full understanding of the health concerns, such as cancer, ulcers, and other general indications of bad health, researchers have looked into the driving forces for drug usage. Psychologists are also intrigued by the underlying assumptions that drive people to abuse drugs. Why do individuals abuse drugs, then? With the presumption that drug users are already aware of the possible health consequences of their behavior, this question is interesting (Armanyous, 2021). The National Institute on Drug Consumption (NIDA) claims several socioeconomic and cultural factors, some extremely potent and occasionally beyond the victims’ control, encourage drug abuse. NIDA claims that despite the high costs of drugs, the victims can still purchase and use illegal drugs such as heroin, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, and tobacco.
Various factors, including peer pressure, causes adolescent drug use. It is well known that younger people tend to act the same way as others around them. In other words, there is a good likelihood that other adolescents will imitate what one teenager is doing. Teenagers who are socially inept and lack confidence are more likely to seek medications that do the same (McGloin & Thomas, 2019). The parents’ behavior contributes to the child’s interest in drug
abuse. If parents use drugs, kids will think that doing drugs is ok. Lack of excitement and co-occurring mental disease are two more important causes of drug use.
Conclusion
Drug abuse has become a significant issue affecting millions of people, particularly the young individuals who are expected to be torchbearers for the next generation. Millions of drug addicts around the world have had their lives ruined, leading them to live horrible lives where they cannot distinguish the difference between life and death. Global drug statistics portray a very pessimistic view of drug abuse. There are more young people taking drugs. Peer pressure, social stimulation, parental behavior, co-occurring disorders, boredom, and academic difficulties are the main causes of adolescent drug use. The social learning behavior explanation is the theoretical framework that policy analysts and researchers use to investigate juvenile drug use. Many young individuals gravitate to drugs due to the environments in which they are raised. Congress has tasked the Coordinating Committee for the Prevention of Underage Drinking with educating the public about the risks associated with underage drug use. Due to the restrictions, there has been a significant decline in underage drug use. It becomes evident that no corner of the world is immune to the affliction of drug addiction. Various recommendations for efficient drug screening programs are provided below.
- Particular focus should be given to the interactions between medications when assessing how alcohol and other drug use affect behavior.
- The effects of prescription and over-the-counter drugs on job performance should receive more focus from researchers and funding organizations, especially for jobs requiring a high level of safety.
- More research is required to create precise, logical estimates of the costs of alcohol and another drug usage to particular organizations and society as a whole. Decision-makers in business and government should use caution when basing their choices on the evidence that is currently available.
- Drug testing should be employed in probationary companies with enough regularity and unpredictability to spot and discourage ongoing drug addiction.
- When a drug identification method is used, an intervention should come afterward. There should be increased supervision, more frequent testing, and treatment actions in response to positive indicators of chemical use. Praise, prizes, and encouragement should come after negative signs of substance use.
References
Almond, D., & Cheng, Y. (2020). Perinatal health among 1 million Chinese-Americans, 1–36. Web.
Armanyous, M. (2021). Barriers vs. bridges: Undocumented immigrants’ access to post-secondary education in the United States and Canada.
McGloin, J. M., & Thomas, K. J. (2019). Peer influence and delinquency. Annual Review of Criminology, 2(1), 241–264. Web.
Schulenberg, J., & Johnston, L. (2020). Monitoring the future national survey results on drug use, 1975-2019, 1–498. Web.
Simon, R., Snow, R., & Wakeman, S. (2019). Understanding why patients with substance use disorders leave the hospital against medical advice: A qualitative study. Substance Abuse, 41(4), 519–525. Web.
SAMHSA.gov. (2022). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and health. SAMHSA.gov. Web.