Drug Use in Teens

Drug Use in Adolescents The author of this report has been charged with writing a brief scholarly report with a few key components. The author of this report has been asked to select a topic of interest. That selected topic shall be substance and drug abuse in adolescents. As part of this scholarly report, there will be three major components. The first will be a description of the area of interest and why the author of this report is interested in it.

Second, there will be a brief literature review with scholarly sources that cover that same topic. Finally, there will be a reflection and reaction to the literature review including whether there was agreement, how the author of this report perceives the involved paradigm(s) and so forth. While many kids avoid the pitfalls and negative outcomes of drug use and abuse, many fall prey sometimes or many times and the results can be quite tragic and damaging.

Analysis The author of this report chose substance abuse in adolescents because it is a problem that is becoming ever-increasing and widely damaging in its scopes and its overall effects. Indeed, one can include substances that are sometimes legal (e.g. alcohol, marijuana, etc.) and other substances that are always considered illicit (e.g. heroin, crack, etc.). There is also the rising use and abuse of prescription pills of certain types like certain cough medicines, painkillers, anxiety medications and so forth.

The author of this report has seized on this topic because it is becoming more and more of an epidemic and the activity's common comorbidity with psychological and other problems is quite pervasive when it comes to talking of youths that are incarcerated or otherwise experiencing life distress. The first source consulted for this literature review was offered by Jaynes (2014) and it centers on the usage of Social Disorganization theory when it comes to educators and how they can prevent drug use and abuse among teenagers.

Jaynes notes that drug use in teenagers causes a litany of negative outcomes including interpersonal problems, familial problems and issues with grades and scholastic achievement. While teachers and other educators can only do so much when it comes to preventing teenage drug use, they are certainly a cog in the machine and they can play a role per the words of Jaynes (Jaynes, 2014).

Earlier in this document, the author of this report made an allusion to the fact that drug use and mental problems are quite often co-existing and co-aggravating in some people. In other words, a person that abuses drugs will often end up experiencing psychological problems and the same can happen in reverse. Of course, many drugs actively cause mental problems and episodes such as alcohol drunkenness and being high on prescription pills that are intentionally taken to excess. Santisteban et al.

(2015) notes that drug use is often comorbid with depression and this should be taken into account when designing, implementing and executing criminal diversion programs for younger offenders (Santisteban et al., 2015). The author found another source that speaks of a sort of comorbidity. However, it is the nexus of two things that are not directly related but that can often correlate in certain adolescents and those two items are sexual abuse and substance abuse. Sartor et al.

(2013) took a look at whether there was a correlation or causality between sexual abuse in young teen girls and whether or not those same girls were more prone to abuse alcohol and other drugs. The study found that there is indeed an identifiable risk factor that points to sexually abused girls being more likely to use weed and cigarettes and the age of first alcohol consumption tends to be lower as well (Sartor et al., 2013). A similar, yet different, study was done by Lanza et al.

(2014) and it looked at the correlation between substance abuse and the weight status of the teens involved. The overall outcome and findings of that study was that kids that were overweight were more likely to engage in the smoking of cigarettes but that alcohol and marijuana use did not seem to be as much of an issue (Lanza, Grella & Chung, 2014). As for a reflection and reaction to the above, the author of this report did not find much to disagree with in the literature that was reviewed.

Indeed, bad habits and bad outcomes predictably intersect with drug use and abuse. To be fair, not everyone that engages in the use of alcohol or marijuana ends up as a social waste or a prisoner in a cell. Even people that try more illicit drugs can figure out that they wish to stay far away from making that a permanent fixture in their life. However, so many others end up abusing substances and seeking the next high.

The ubiquity of prescription pills in more recent years has made an already horrible situation all the more worse. It remains to be seen if the tide can be altered or if the current arc of teen destruction will continue. Conclusion As noted throughout this report, substance abuse in the younger generations is.