Causes and effects of teen drug abuse
Drug abuse among the teenagers is one of the toughest problems families and parents have to deal with in the current society, in this article we are going to look into the causes and effects of drug abuse among the teens.
There are many reasons as to why a teenager can resolve to abuse drugs, they include; Drug availability; this is a situation whereby a teenager is brought up in an environment that is prone to drug abuse, it can either be that the parent keep alcohol in the house and they can have access to it at any time or the parents smoke either cigarettes or bhang or the neighborhood is simply filled with idle people who the only thing they can think of in order to be busy is to abuse drugs. Absent parenting; this is also among the primary factors as to why teens involve themselves in drug abuse, parents who are absent and do not know what their children are doing and what they are involving themselves in end up being the ones to blame for this. The less supervision a teenager has the more time and opportunity he/she has to explore all types of drugs, mostly the teens who have access to large amounts of money as their allowances. Most of these teens try these drugs simply because they are bored and have no other thing to do because their parents are not watching over them.
Peer influence; this is one of the most common reason as to why teens get into drug abuse, you get them trying to fit in with a particular group and they end up using drugs, however, peer pressure can be both negative and positive, a teen can be influenced to do something that is of benefit to him or that which will destroy him, this is mostly rampant in adolescent teenagers who want to try out new things in life and those who have no supervision from their guardians. Mental illness; many teens end up abusing drugs because of mental health issue such as anxiety or depression, this teens if not well taken care of they will end up diagnosing themselves with drugs that will momentarily make them forget of their problems.
Personality; many teenagers end up abusing drugs because they want to boost their confidence in order to interact freely with their peers, they may have been rejected once or have low self esteem so they end up abusing drug in order to rectify the situation. Misinformation; many teens are not aware of the risk associated with drug abuse, some of them think that when one abuse drugs that the doctors have prescribed for you then you are less likely to be affected. We also have the media to accuse for the type of information they relay to the teens, generally movies showcase drug abuse as a positive thing and this makes the teens more attracted to it for they think it is safe.
Stress; due to the fact that most of the teens are undergoing adolescent they tend to think that they can handle issue by themselves until they are overwhelmed by the situation then they turn to drugs, if there is conflicts within the family every now and then, bullying in school or in the neighborhood, and other problems that may affect the teen directly or indirectly may lead the teen to indulge in drug abuse. Emotional problems can also lead a teenager to abuse drugs this may be in order to overcome depression or low self esteem. (Earhart)

If you are a parent or guardian the following are the symptoms to look for in your child to be able to certify that they are abusing any type of drug. Mood swing; the teen will be very much unpredictable, one can not exactly know what he/she is going to do next because one minute she is happy the next she is sad, then she is crying after that she is laughing and at times you don’t even see the logic behind it all. Withdrawal; this is when the teen decides to sideline himself from others and not to share anything with anyone, she becomes self conservative and one can also not understand her at time. Poor hygiene; in this situation the person simply becomes an I don’t care, she is generally unclean from the physical cleanliness to the environmental cleanliness, they are shaggy/rugged all the time. Violent; the person suddenly resolves to violent measure of expressing himself. Depression. (Walding)
Above are some of the ways to know that your child is abusing drugs. Drug abuse also has effects, mostly they are negative and they end up affecting the individual for a long time if not properly taken care of. They include; Emotional problems; it has been researched that among teen who have emotional problems 34.6% have been caused by drug abuse. Learning problems; this is because the drugs that they take in the long run interfere with both their long term and short term memories making it hard for them to remember what they have been taught. Brain damage; teens who involve in abusing hard drugs may end up losing their minds, their brains simply shut down and they cannot be function normally, they get permanent serious mental disorder. Dependence; when one keeps on abusing drugs he/she becomes more addicted and it becomes difficult for them to function properly without them, this may work out for them when they are growing but it will certainly incapacitate them in their adult life. (Butler)
Drug abuse among the teens is a problem that can be resolved only if the adults put in a united front to educate them on the risks of abusing drugs and also have some time with them in order to always monitor them and know what they are doing and that they may also get some time to share out their problems.
References
Butler, Alia. “What Are the Causes of Teenage Drug Abuse?” (2010).
Earhart, Mary. “Causes of Teenage Drug Abuse.” (2012).
Mentor. 9 November 2012 <http://mentorfoundation.org/prevention-hub>.
“The Effects of Drug Abuse on Teens.” Casa Palmera 9 November 2012.
Walding, Aureau. “Causes for Teenage Drug Abuse.” (2012).