Wednesday 10 December, 2008

Youth and Drugs-Why are young people at risk of drug abuse?

More people are abusing drugs today than in any other time in history, and many of those people are youth. The connection between youth and drug abuse raises several questions, like: Why are young people at risk of drug abuse? Why do young people use drugs? What is wrong with doing drugs when people have been doing them for centuries?

What are Drugs?

Understanding what drugs are is fundamental to understanding their potential abuse.


A psychoactive substance is something that people take to change the way they feel, think or behave. Some of these substances are called drugs, and others, like alcohol and tobacco, are considered dangerous but are not called drugs. The term drugs also covers a number of substances that must be used under medical supervision to treat illnesses.

What's Wrong with Drug Abuse?
Substance abuse has many negative physiological health effects, ranging from minor issues like digestion problems or respiratory infections, to potentially fatal diseases, like AIDS and hepatitis C. Of course, the effects depend on the drug and on the amount, method and frequency of use. Some drugs are very addictive, like heroin, while others are less so. But the upshot is that regular drug abuse or sustained exposure to a drug - even for a short period of time - can cause physiological dependence, which means that when the person stops taking drugs, he/she experiences physical withdrawal symptoms and a craving for the drug.

Drug abuse damages the ability of people to act as free and conscious beings, capable of taking action to fulfill their needs. How free drug abusers are when they have no control over their actions or reactions is debatable. What is unarguable is that by giving in to bio-chemical processes that are deviant, a drug abuser loses what makes humans admirable and unique.

Drugs
01. Amphetamine


02. Cannabis


03. Cocaine


04. Heroin
Youth and Drug Abuse

Overall, drug prevalence rates among youth in many countries are higher than for the general population. That situation is due to various factors common to almost all countries. The main reason remains the fact that adolescence is a period of experimentation and search for identity, and that young people are more likely than adults to experiment with various things, including drugs. Thus, prevalence rates among youth can be three or four times higher than those found among the general population.

During the past decade, patterns and trends in drug abuse among young people differed from region to region. In developed countries, and increasingly elsewhere, some forms of drug consumption are often associated with particular youth subcultures and lifestyles. The beliefs and values of some subcultural groups serve to legitimize consumption in the eyes of their members. In such cases, the risks associated with consumption may tend to be downplayed or even ignored. In many developed countries, that led, during the past decade, to drug abuse becoming entrenched in the lifestyle of a small but significant minority of young people, with a corresponding general increase in drug abuse during the early 1990s. However, more recently, there have been some signs of stabilization and, in some cases, even a decrease in the abuse of certain drugs. One important factor is the continued development of more effective prevention and demand reduction measures. Other factors are also likely to have an impact, including the saturation of vulnerable populations and changing economic and social conditions. In developed countries, in particular, evidence exists that prevention efforts related to HIV and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and injecting drug use have had an impact, with a resulting decline in injecting among young people and in related risk behaviours.

There are a number of factors that are common to all the groups of vulnerable young people, most notably the fact that they are surrounded by rapid social, economic and cultural change and that they frequently lack adequate family and community care and support. Not only do they often have increased needs but, at the same time, they are usually also less likely to be reached by existing services, programmes and channels of communication.

In addition to and in connection with drug abuse, there are other risk factors that need to be considered, for example, the increase of HIV infection that is concentrated in developing countries and among children and young people, and also vulnerability to sexual exploitation and sexual risk behaviour as a result of drug abuse.

Three general elements to be included in prevention programmes:
(a) Addressing the values, perceptions, expectations and beliefs that young people associate with drugs and drug abuse;

(b) Developing life skills and social competencies to increase the capacity to make informed and healthy choices;


(c) Creating an environment where children and young people have the possibility to be involved in healthy activities and where substance abuse is not promoted by peers, family, the media and other influential actors in the community.
Say No To Drugs !!!

No comments: