Demand for Illicit Drugs Rising Among US Teens

According to the US Department of Justice, teens are abusing and using illicit drugs in larger and larger numbers and a number of national-level studies are supporting their assertion. Here are a few statistics culled from those studies, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH):

• An estimated 8.7 percent of Americans over the age of 12 reported that they were current users of illicit substances, up from 8 percent the year before.
• The largest age group of current abusers of marijuana were between the ages of 18 and 25 – up from 16.5 percent in 2008 to more than 18 percent in 2009.
• The biggest rate of increase in drug abuse was among teens aged 12 to 17. In 2008, a little more than nine percent of that segment of the population reported illicit substance abuse – that number rose to 10 percent in 2009.
• The most popular drug of abuse among those between 12 and 17 was marijuana; more than seven percent of this age group reported abuse of the drug in 2009.

Another national-level study, the 2010 Monitoring the Future (MTF) study reported similar findings:

• Marijuana abuse was declining among adolescents and teens in the past decade, but that has started to reverse. Slowly, the numbers are rising.
• Daily abuse of marijuana among those enrolled in 8^th grade, 10^th grade, and 12^th grade rose in 2010 as compared to 2009.
• The perceived risk associated with marijuana abuse among this age group was lower in 2010 than in 2009 and in years past.

Recognizing Signs of Drug Abuse in Your Teen

All the data in the world doesn’t help if it doesn’t aid parents in recognizing the signs of drug abuse in their own teens early enough to intervene and get them the help they need. Here are a few ways to recognize changes that could indicate that drug abuse is an issue for your child:

• Increased secrecy
• Increased “coded” language among peers
• Significant change in appearance (e.g., hygiene and clothing logos)
• Significant change in interests (e.g., away from more structured activities like sports and the arts toward interest in hanging out socially)
• Shift in friendships

If you notice a combination of these changes and have reason to suspect that your teen is abusing drugs (like finding drugs or paraphernalia in their possessions, seeing them “high,” or smelling drugs or alcohol on them) then chronic drug abuse could be an issue.

In many cases, treatment may be the best option. Contact us at Newport Academy today to discuss which types of treatment will be most effective for your child.