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Drug Abuse Among Teens

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The Drug Abuse Epidemic and Today’s Teenagers Drug abuse among teenagers has been an issue since the 1980’s when programs such as D.A.R.E., (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), were implemented. Using the slogan “Just Say No”, the program trained school officials and police officers to teach techniques and children and adolescents effective ways to resist experimenting with all drugs, including tobacco and alcohol. While there has been some success, this epidemic has become a major problem in today’s society that is not getting better due to the availability of prescription and over the counter medications, continued funding cuts for athletics and other extra-curricular activities and the increase in teenagers being left unsupervised. The availability of prescription and over the counter medications has made abuse easier among teens. Many parents do not even realize the dangers that are in their own medicine cabinets. “In 2011, 22% of 12th graders indicated misuse of a prescription drug without medical supervision in their lifetime; and 15% over the past year.” During that same time, one in 12 high school seniors reported that in the past year they had obtained the prescription pain reliever Vicodin, and one in 20 high school seniors used OxyContin for non-medical uses. And 70% of those teens surveyed had stated they obtained them from family and friends. (“Prescription” 2011). “Enough prescription painkillers were prescribed in 2010 to medicate every American adult around-the-clock for a month. Although most of these pills were prescribed for medical purposes, many ended up in the hands of people who misused or abused them.” (CDC Vital Signs, Nov. 2011) Opiate medications are not the only ones being abused. Sedatives, stimulants such as Ritalin and even cough medicine are popular among teenagers, the frequency of abuse increasing anywhere from 93% for

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