Drug use among teenagers in the United States is a serious concern. In
2003 more than 7.5 million individuals aged 12 to 17 reported having used an illicit drug at least once in
their lifetime. In the same year students in grades nine through twelve indicated that 40.2 percent of respondents
had used marijuana, 12.1 percent had used inhalants, 11.1 percent had used MDMA (also known
as ecstasy), 8.7 percent had used cocaine, 7.6 percent had used methamphetamine,
6.1 percent had illegally used steroids, 3.3 percent had used heroin, and 3.2 percent had
injected an illegal drug one or more times during their lifetime.
Furthermore, 9.9 percent of student respondents nationwide tried
marijuana for the first time before the age of 13, 28.7 percent had been offered, sold, or given an illegal drug
on school property during the year preceding the survey, and 5.8 percent had used marijuana on school property
one or more times during the 30 days preceding the survey.
What is the correlation between age of
first drug use and dependence?
Adults who first used drugs at a younger age were more likely to be
classified with illicit drug dependence or abuse than adults who initiated use at an older age.
For example, among adults aged 18 or older who first tried marijuana at
age 14 or younger, 13.0 percent were classified with illicit drug dependence
or abuse compared with only 2.8 percent of adults who had first used marijuana
at age 18 or older.
Teens who first used marijuana before age 17 were shown to have
smaller brains and to be physically smaller in height and weight than teens who first used marijuana after age 17.
Exposure to marijuana and other drugs at certain critical periods, such as
early adolescence, may alter normal patterns of development.
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What are some of the risks specific to marijuana
use?
Marijuana use, which is prevalent among youth, has been shown to interfere
with short-term memory, learning, and psychomotor skills. Motivation and psychosexual/emotional development
also may be affected.
Early adolescent marijuana use increases the risk in late adolescence
of not graduating from high school,
delinquency, having multiple sexual partners, and not always using condoms. Such
marijuana use can result in perceiving drugs as not harmful, having long-term problems with cigarettes, alcohol, and
marijuana, and having friends who exhibit deviant behavior.
In addition, early adolescent marijuana use is related to later adolescent
problems that limit the acquisition of skills necessary for employment and heighten the risks of contracting HIV
and abusing legal and illegal substances.
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What are some risks associated with the use of other illicit drugs?
Any illicit drug use by adolescents can have immediate and long-term
health and social consequences. Overall, mental health problems including depression, developmental
lags, apathy, withdrawal, conduct problems, personality disorders,
suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide, suicide, and other psychosocial dysfunctions are frequently linked to
substance abuse among adolescents. Drug abuse has been shown to increase the likelihood of psychiatric
disorders.
Abuse of specific drugs exposes users to a range of serious
consequences. Cocaine use is linked with health problems including eating disorders, disabilities, and death from
heart attacks and strokes. Hallucinogens can affect brain chemistry and result in problems with learning
new information and memory. Methamphetamine can cause rapid heart rate, increased blood pressure,
and damage to the small blood vessels in the brain that can lead to stroke. Heroin use can result in slow and
shallow breathing, convulsions, coma, and even death.
Young people who inject drugs expose themselves to additional risks,
including contracting HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), hepatitis B and C, and other blood-borne viruses.
Chronic injection drug users also risk scarred or collapsed veins, infection of
the heart lining and valves, abscesses, pneumonia, tuberculosis,
and liver and kidney disease.
Substance abuse among youth has also been strongly linked to
delinquency. Arrest, adjudication, and intervention by the juvenile justice system are eventual consequences
for many youths engaged in alcohol and other drug use.
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What are some common signs of teen drug abuse?
Sudden and extreme changes in personality, physical appearance,
social activity, or school performance may signal teen drug use. Personality changes may include
becoming disrespectful and verbally or physically abusive, extreme mood swings, paranoia, confusion, anger,
depression, and secretive behavior. Teens who abuse drugs may lie about what they are doing and where
they are going. They may also steal, claim to lose possessions they once valued, have a lot of money, ask for
money, and withdraw from family and family activities. With regard to physical effects, teens using drugs
may exhibit a lack of hygiene and grooming, weight loss or gain,
hyperactivity or lethargy, and insomnia or excessive sleeping. These teens may
also drop old friends and activities, skip school, lose interest in school, receive low grades, sleep in class,
lose concentration, and have trouble with memory.
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Other products of interest:
Check out Fast Facts on:
- 2C-T-7
- 5-MeO-AMT
- AMT
- BZP
- Crack cocaine
- Crystal methamphetamine
- Drug abuse and mental illness
- Drug-facilitated sexual assault
- Drug paraphernalia
- Drugs and gangs
- Drugs and the Internet
- DXM
- Fentanyl
- Foxy
- Fry
- GHB and analogs
- Heroin
- Inhalants
- Jimsonweed
- Ketamine
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- Khat
- LSD
- Marijuana
- MDMA
- Methadone
- Methamphetamine
- Meth lab ID and hazards
- OxyContin
- PCP
- Powdered cocaine
- Prescription drugs
- Psilocybin
- Ritalin
- Rohypnol
- Salvia divinorum
- Soma
- Steroids
- Triple C
- Yaba
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Also available from NDIC:
- Huffing--The Abuse of Inhalants
- Prescription Drug Abuse and Youth
- Drugs, Youth, and the Internet
For more information on illicit drugs check out our web site at:
www.usdoj.gov/ndic. Call 814-532-4541 to request NDIC products.
Our addresses:
National Drug Intelligence Center
319 Washington Street, 5th Floor
Johnstown, PA 15901-1622
Telephone: 814-532-4601
FAX: 814-532-4690
NDIC Washington Liaison Office
8201 Greensboro Drive, Suite 1001
McLean, VA 22102-3840
Telephone: 703-556-8970
FAX: 703-556-7807
NDIC publications are available on the following web sites:
ADNET: http://ndicosa
LEO: home.leo.gov/lesig/ndic
RISS: ndic.riss.net
INTERNET: www.usdoj.gov/ndic
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