Teen Drug Abuse Climbs
According to a December 2012 study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, teen drug abuse in America has been increasing. In an article posted on prweb.com, the disturbing new statistics are explained:
“The age group with the highest concentration of drug users is concentrated in the late teen years and twenties. However, ages 14-15 have a higher average rate of use than all of the age groups 35 and over, showing that drug use is affecting teens at a younger age than ever before. An interesting find in the study, shows that drug use is increasing in the over 50 population…. The most widely abused drug behind alcohol is marijuana, with pain relievers coming in 3rd and cocaine 4th and heroin 5th in the study. Interestingly, the harder street drugs have showed a decline over the last 10 years and recreational drugs like marijuana have seen their use increase dramatically.”
Unfortunately, we aren’t surprised. We’ve seen the stories in newspapers every week, and have been blogging frequently about this problem in an effort to raise awareness. It’s sometimes hard for parents to see their child as a person with substance use disorder, especially when that child may be adept at hiding the evidence. But it’s time to take off the rose colored glasses. This article goes on to underline this need with yet another starting fact:
“Since drug use has grown over the past 10 years, it only makes sense that the need for drug addiction treatment has grown as well, however this need is not getting met. There is a large treatment gap in America, with only 2.3 million people getting addiction treatment out of the total 21.6 people who needed the treatment.”
Drug abuse is also becoming more and more prevalent in rural areas.
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