What drugs are abused by teenagers?

Virtually every drug that is abused by adults is also abused by adolescents.

In addition to alcohol, common categories of drugs of abuse include:

  • Cannabinoids (for example, marijuana, hashish), sometimes called "pot, weed, Mary Jane, or herb" and is smoked in a "joint," "blunt," "bong," or pipe
  • Club drugs (for example, Ecstasy), sometimes called "X"
  • Cold medications (for example, Sudafed, Benadryl)
  • Depressants (for example, barbiturates, benzodiazepines), sometimes called "reds, yellows, yellow jackets, downers or roofies"
  • Dissociative anesthetics (for example, phencyclidine/PCP, ketamine), sometimes called "lovely, boat, Love Boat, angel dust, K, vitamin K, or cat" and whose use is often referred to as "getting wet
  • Hallucinogens (for example LSD, "mushrooms"), sometimes called "acid, yellow sunshines, buttons, or shrooms"
  • Inhalants (for example, cleaning fluids, gasoline, hairspray, ammonia, paint thinner), the use of which is often referred to as "huffing"
  • Narcotics (for example, morphine, heroin, codeine, Oxycontin, Vicodin), sometimes called cody, schoolboy, Tango and Cash, or monkey"
  • Stimulants (for example, amphetamines, cocaine, methamphetamine), sometimes called "bennies, black beauties, speed, uppers, blow, crack, rock, toot, crank, crystal, or skippy"
  • Tobacco products (for example, cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco)
  • Others (for example, anabolic steroids), sometimes called "juice or roids"

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In 2007, about 2% of 10th-graders had used cocaine in the past year, 3% had used opiates, 13% had used inhalants, nearly 5% had used a club drug (for example, "Ecstasy"), and about 2% had used anabolic steroids.

As of 2008, about one-third of 10th-graders used marijuana in the past year.
Nearly one-fifth of 10th-graders said they used it in the past month.

 
In 2009, the percentage of adolescents who have used any drug in the past month was about 27%.

In the U.S., about 3,000 teens smoke their first tobacco cigarette each day. About one-third of those adolescents become daily smokers.

While the use of most drugs by teenagers has decreased since 2006, the abuse of Oxycontin, a narcotic, has increased to 5% of 10th-graders in 2009.

 

Five stages of drug use have been identified.
The first stage is described as access to drugs but no use thereof. In that stage, minimizing the risk factors that make a teenager more vulnerable to using drugs are an issue.

The second stage of drug use ranges from experimentation or occasional use to regular weekly use of substances.

The third stage is characterized by youth progressing to further increasing the frequency of using one or more drugs on a regular basis.

This stage may also include the teenager either buying, stealing, or drug dealing to get drugs.

In the fourth stage, adolescents have established regular usage, have become preoccupied with getting intoxicated ("high"), and have developed problems in their social, educational, vocational, or family life as a result of using the substance.

The final and most serious fifth stage of drug use is defined by the youth only feeling "normal" when they are using.

During this stage, risk-taking behaviors like stealing, drug dealing, engaging in physical fights, unprotected sex, or driving while intoxicated increase and they become most vulnerable to having suicidal or homicidal thoughts.

Family interventions for drug addiction that tend to be effective for teens include multidimensional family therapy (MDFT), group therapy, and multifamily educational intervention (MFE).

MDFT has been found to be quite effective. Longer-term residential treatment of four to six months that addresses peer relationships, educational problems, and family issues is often used in treating substance abuse in teens.

 

 

 

 

 

References: Medical News Today. "Medication appears effective in treating teen heroin addiction." 2007 ; National Institute on Drug Abuse. "Commonly Abused Drugs." February 2007 ; National Institute on Chemical Dependency. "General and specific guides to detection of alcohol and drug use and definition of addiction." 2007.