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