Drug Use Is on the Rise Among

Drug use is on the rise among teens, and is an epidemic that must be stopped. In order to reduce the number of teenagers in the United States who use drugs, it is important to develop a comprehensive plan of intervention. The intervention must include efforts on the part of teachers, parents, and politicians. One of the most effective ways of changing the minds of teenagers is via the use of advertising. Therefore, advertising campaigns should be used to make drug use seem uncool and therefore undesirable among teenagers.

As Glazer points out, drug use among teens is becoming more prevalent. "Although teens who use drugs are still in the minority, some experts say that recent increases in the popularity of drugs, though modest, may indicate the beginnings of a new drug epidemic," (Glazer). Cannabis has regained its panache among youth, Glazer points out. Whether or not pot smoking leads to harder drugs, teenagers should not be using cannabis until they graduate from high school and are mature enough to handle the drug's side effects.

Marijuana is actually not the biggest drug problem facing teenagers and their parents. It is actually prescription drugs that are becoming more and more popular among teenagers in America. As of 2006, pharmaceutical drug abuse was "rampant among his young patients," ("Teen Prescription Drug Abuse On the Rise"). According to one source, "Pot, alcohol, steroids, cigarettes, meth, Ecstasy and LSD are being used less and less by American teenagers since the 1990s, but misuse of prescription drugs has been on the rise, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse," ("Prescription Drug Abuse on the Rise Among High Schoolers"). Prescription drugs of choice include Percocets, Oxycontin, Xanax, Vicodin, Ritalin, Adderall ("Teen Prescription Drug Abuse On the Rise"). The problem with prescription drug use among teens is that the media contains a constant bombardment of advertisements condoning the use of those drugs. Moreover, parents have the drugs in their medicine cabinet. The drugs are legal, easily available, and socially acceptable. Many teenagers even have "pharmaparties," in which they use pills recreationally to achieve a high ("Teen Prescription Drug Abuse On the Rise"). In many cases, the teenagers do not even know what drugs they are taking or what doses ("Teen Prescription Drug Abuse On the Rise"). The potential dangers of teenage drug use are obvious, and must be stopped.

Anti-drug advertising campaigns can be among the most successful tactics to divert teenager attention away from drugs. As Glazer notes, the New York-based Partnership for a Drug-Free America launched a successful anti-drug television advertisement campaign that did have a measurable effect on influencing teen perceptions of drugs, drug users, and drug dealers. The key to successful advertising campaigns is to make drugs seem uncool to children and adolescents; the more normative drug use becomes the more likely teens are to do drugs in order to fit in or resist becoming socially isolated.

Sure, parents are responsible for their children and for monitoring their teenagers for the signs of drug abuse but with prescription drugs, it may be difficult to know that the teenager is using. Unlike with marijuana smoking, there is no telltale smoke or aroma and the teenager might not even have bloodshot eyes. Even being drunk is easier to detect than being stoned on pills. Some parents do not even know their children had been using drugs for years, until something terrible happens. "Despite years using an array of drugs, Jay's mother said her son seemed normal," ("Teen Prescription Drug Abuse On the Rise"). Now that teenager is in a rehabilitation program.

Because prescription drugs are legal, readily available, and socially acceptable, a new approach to anti-drug advertisements is necessary. This approach entails community action against prescription drug advertising, and an increase in social stigma against prescription drugs. Doctors should not be prescribing teenagers medications like Ritalin or antidepressants, which can be used recreationally. Parents should not buy into the pharmaceutical companies' evil profit-driven system of lies. Instead, parents should educate their children about mental health issues, and promote a drug-free culture in the home and community. To supplement community action, local governments, state governments, and the federal government should pool resources to stop prescription drug advertisements on television and replace them with advertisements that show what happens when people abuse prescription drugs. Prescription drugs can be reframed as something powerfully uncool -- only something people like Rush Limbaugh would take to get high.