Drugs, alcohol abuse and teens, what do you think of when you put those three words together? We’ll based on our society I for one think of teens who are confused and resort to drugs as a source of escape, be it from homework, peers, school; teens who hurt themselves and their friends, who suffer horrendous consequences due to a one night fling at a party, those teens who get kicked off of a minimal pay job at a greasy fast food joint because they were stoned and now their struggling to find another so they can support their sick or dying parents or siblings. Teens who get caught for possession of illegal drugs because their friends said it’s the new “it” thing and that everyone’s doing it, teens who take a swing of beer not wanting another but force one down either way because a celebrity was doing it on tv; those teens whose lives are thrown into a dark, dingy, dirty cellar with bars along with whatever torn, and scratched up dignity they have left for who knows how long for getting caught for just holding a little plastic bag of white stuff. Yes I’m talking about those teens, the teens of the 21st century.
Now with that just being a brief overview need I resort to statistics? In the last thirty days 50% of teenagers report drinking with 32% being drunk at least on one occasion, 10% of teens say that they have attended a rave, and ecstasy and other drugs were available at more than two-thirds of these raves; more than 60% said that drugs were sold, used, or kept at their school. 20% of 8th graders report that they have tried marijuana. 28% teens know a classmate or friend that have tried ecstasy. Approximately 15% of 10th and 12th graders have used amphetamines. An estimated 1.8 million of youth age 12 and older are current users of cocaine. The National Institute of Justices Arrestee and Drug Monitoring System (ADAM) drug testing program found that 66% of underage male arrestees tested positive for marijuana. The list just goes on and on and on.
Now what...