Fact Charts

When i look through this chart its as if i was looking at a rocket that it is escalating more as time goes by. This chart shows that prescription drugs are the second most abused drugs after marijuana in the U.S. I think the data is reliable because it comes from the National Survey on Drug use and Health from September 2009. The chart seems to have the data complete and organized because it has the most common abused drugs. I'm sure this will help people to understand and see how big this issue is, and also this chart helps to encourage them to do something about it. The information i saw in this chart was a bit  eccentric because it is obvious that the number of drug users keeps going up. The chart shows that prescription drugs are third most abused drug after marijuana. The most important thing this chart can teach us, is to always be aware of what our kids are doing because these substances are not just around the corner, also around your medicine cabinet doors.



 http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/prescrptn_drgs/chart1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/prescrptn_drgs/

Reflection

When we started brainstorming about what the topic was going to be for our blog i was not sure what i wanted to do, and  i couldn't decide between drug problems or immigration. It was hard to decide because i really wanted to do my blog about immigration because of all that is going on right now, but i ended up doing it about drugs, because i think its an important issue and its something that is engrossing our teens. I've learned from this topic and the research i did so far that the way we see these problems has changed because back then drug problems existed but were not as serious as they are today. Also I've learned that a person is influenced to try alcohol, tobacco or drugs by their parents behavior and attitudes, but not only by their parents also by their classmates, friends or they do it just to try to ''fit in''. Some of the things about my topic i already knew, but now that i got into it more I'm interested in learning more about where is this whole problem going, is it adjacent to an end? or will the number of drug users will keep increasing?

Did you know that illegal drug use its at its highest level in nearly a decade?

The US its loosing its most valuable resource, the next generation to drugs, it is imperative that we do more to address the underlying issues. Young teens are using drugs more often due to many reasons, although people have done many things trying to solve this problem, and there are a lot of places, resources to get help the number of teens using drugs or have used drugs keeps going up. The use of these substances started as a tribal or for religious purposes, but this did not stayed like that for a long time. The way that people began looking at these intoxicating substances has changed over time, so does the people and the way we deal with it. You may ask yourself why are there so many teens using alcohol and other drugs? and we will probably never know why and how this problem has escalated the way it has, but what we do know is that a person is influenced by other peoples behavior and actions. National studies find that parents are a big factor in teens drinking and drug abuse. Sometimes teens are influenced by their parents actions for example teens who have seen at least one of their parents drunk are more than twice as likely to get drunk in a typical month, and three times as likely to use marijuana and smoke cigarettes. Parents are not the only big factor in teens drug abuse, some other reasons have to do with how well a parent has educated their kid, or weather the kid had parents to guide him. Adolescence, when young people begin to branch out their own, is when many are more likely to try alcohol, drugs and cigarettes. But some are more at risk than others that is why is important to teach kids since they are born what is good and what is bad and dangerous. There are five core issues that dictate whether teens abuse alcohol and other drugs. The first factor is the age they start using; the second is how frequently and-or intensely they use substances over a 30-day period; the third and fourth are parental approval and peer approval; the last one is peer-pressure. You may think this is eccentric but here are some interesting facts: Two thirds of teens who drink at least once a month get drunk at least once a month. Teens who get drunk at least once a month are 18 times likelier to use marijuana and likelier to associate with teens who abuse other illegal and prescription drugs. More than one third of teens (8.7 million) can get prescription drugs to get high within a day; nearly one in five teens (4.7 million) can get them within an hour.


   

Source: Student Research Center
Weekend All Things Considered (NPR); 09/19/10