Drug abuse has caused severe lifelong social and psychological damages among teens. In the long run, it produces people with poor judgement, low self-esteem and is often contrary to fit into the social fabric. From street drugs like cocaine, alcohol, marijuana and heroine to prescription drugs like morphine, amphetamines, sedatives and other tranquilizers, the drug abuse cases among teens have seen decades of growth and fall. Researchers have studied these trends and their effect on health, economy and society over the years. They have proposed many theories to explain the beginning of this habit and also prescribed ways of prevention. However, as you will see below, the trend has only increased and become more subtle in present times.
1. Decades of drug use: 1980s
The trend
The teen drug abuse rose around 1980s along with the abuse by elders, catapulting into an ‘American Panic’ of the late 1980s. At the very outset, Monitoring the Future Study (MTF) by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) had found the use of illicit drugs, prevalent among 54.2 percent high school seniors in 1979. The use of cocaine doubled from 5.6 percent in 1975 to 13.1 percent in 1985. The use of marijuana was at 50.8 percent in 1979 which declined slowly over the years.
Interestingly, the decade of 1980s also witnessed a rise in the public perception against drug abuse. In the Gallup Poll of 1989, drug abuse was polled as the biggest threat to US by 64 percent voters. Not only this, the growing public panic led the then President George W. Bush senior to declare a “war on drugs.”
2. Decades of drug use: 1990s
The trend
The annual prevalence rate for most of the drugs reached their peak level in the mid nineties. According to an MTF study, 1995 was the peak year for inhalants and 1996 was the peak year for hallucinogens like LCD and PCP.
Similarly, the consumption of marijuana and amphetamines peaked in 1996 or 1997 for students of different age groups. Also, the report says, the usage of drugs receded from 1996 among older teens and from 1997 among younger teens till 1999.
The use of illicit drugs was lowest at 27.1 percent among high school seniors in 1992. It rose to 42.4 percent in 1997 and remained steady for the remaining years of the decade. There was also an increase in the consumption of heroin among school children as it rose from 0.4 percent in 1991 to 1.0 percent in 1998.
3. Decades of drug use: 2000-2010
The trend
The onset of 21st century also heralded a new era of drug abuse cases, as the numbers suggest. It was found that 10.8 percent teenagers were drug abusers in 2001. A decline of 7 percent was noticed during 2003-04 and of 4 percent during 2004-05.
There were some positive trends during the mid years. Such as, there was a 21 percent fall in the use of marijuana among 8th graders during 2001-05. Use of hallucinogens like LSD and MDMA witnessed a steep decline during the first four years. LSD was found to be abused by only 3.0 percent teenagers in 2001 as compared to the 6.0 percent in 2004.
Binge drinking was noted at 23.2 percent and general drinking was noted at 41.2 percent among high school seniors in 2010.
Initial years of the decade saw an increase in abuse of prescription drugs like inhalants and oxytocin. The abuse of Adderall and OTC cough and cold medicines remained prevalent among 6.5 and 6.6 percent teenagers respectively.
Last years of the decade saw a reversal of many positive trends. Abuse of marijuana was found to be prevalent in 21.4 percent high school seniors in 2010.
4. Contemporary trends
The trend
The trends noticed during last years of the first decade of 21st century remain same. A new study by Metlife foundation and Drugfree.org in 2011 has found that the use of marijuana has increased in last three years while the use of cigarette among teens is on a decline.
About 62 percent of teens questioned during the study said they had their first drink at the age of 15 while 25 percent of them had their first drink by the age of 12. The addicted teens said they drank to forget their problems and stress.
About 25 percent of the teens had abused prescription drugs. And, most of the parents have no idea about the way to deal with drug abuse by their children. It is worrying to find that despite of many studies and suggestions, drug abuse has not stopped. It has become subtle as teenagers are more inclined towards the abuse of prescription drugs now.
