Recent studies of teenage drug use shows that while there are improvements in a few areas, millions of teens are still initiating drug use and abusing addictive prescription drugs each year.
Every year, more than a million teens use marijuana for the first time. Roughly twenty percent of teens have abused a prescription drug in their lifetime, resulting in 4.4 million users. In comparison, in 1997, fewer than 7 percent of teens reported abusing a psychotherapeutic drug, a category that includes stimulants, sedatives, tranquilizers and painkillers.
One of the recent studies also revealed young people’s attitudes about drug use. Forty percent of the teens surveyed agreed that prescription drugs are safer to abuse than street drugs. Seventy-three percent of the students surveyed agreed that drugs help them deal with the pressures and stress of school. Oddly, only 7 percent of parents felt that the primary reason for teen drug use would be to deal with stress.
Other reasons given by teens for drug use included feeling better about themselves (65 percent), looking cool (65 percent), and dealing with problems at home (55 percent).
“These studies present a picture of a society where our teens are still not getting the message that drug use is dangerous,” stated Derry Hallmark, Director of Admissions and Certified Chemical Dependency Counselor. Narconon Arrowhead is one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers, located in Canadian,
As a natural consequence of using drugs to alleviate life’s problems, the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health reported that more than two million teens were dependent on drugs or alcohol or used them to such an extent that they suffered personal, health or social damage.
“Narconon is devoted to eradicating the drug problem through drug rehabilitation and education,” added Mr. Hallmark. “We’re offering parents a free booklet Talking to Kids About Drugs to help them learn new ways to explain the dangers of drug use to their teens. For forty years, Narconon has been teaching addicts how to build new drug-free lives for themselves and we continue that service with free consultations and referrals to rehab centers around the nation.”
To ask for your free copy of Talking to Kids About Drugs or to find immediate help for someone with an addiction problem, call Narconon’s free addiction consultation and referral helpline at 1-800-468-6933 or visit their website at http://www.stopaddiction.com/. The Narconon program was founded in 1966 by William Benitez in
