Addressing the Issue of Drug Abuse Among Adolescents Literature Essay (Essay Sample)

Addressing the Issue of Drug Abuse Among Adolescents
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Addressing the Issue of Drug Abuse Among Adolescents
The consumption of addictive substances among adolescents is a common practice. It is said that by the 12th grade, about 50% of adolescents have abused a drug. The most common substances used include tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol. Most destructive behaviors begin during this period. These behaviors are closely related to mortality and increased morbidity and represent a majority of public health challenges. Adolescence is described as the span for the onset of conditions and behaviors that not only affect health but also contribute to adulthood disorders CITATION Jai16 \l 1033 (Das, Salam, Arshad, Filkenstein, & Bhutta, 2016).
Drug abuse has a significant footprint on individuals, relatives, and the community at large. The effects of substance abuse are cumulative and contribute to costly mental, physical, and social problems among adolescents. Poor health, unemployment, suicide, accidents, decreased life expectancy, and mental illnesses have drug abuse as a common factor. The United States National Survey (as cited in Somani & Meghani, 2016) reported that about 78% of adolescents in the United States used alcohol. 47% regularly drink alcohol. Additionally, approximately 1,700 deaths, in 2012, were attributed to substance abuse. 58% of these casualties were teenage males. Globally, 211,000 drug-related deaths were reported in 2011 among adolescents CITATION Som16 \l 1033 (Somani & Meghani, 2016).