Drug Abuse and Its Impact on Teens

Illegal drugs like cocaine, marijuana, opium, methamphetamine and so on are consumed for happiness and excitement. The drug addiction by teens is increasing these days because of two main reasons, peer pressure and depression. Youth are mostly found to be forced by their peers for drug abuse. It is also found that, when teens come across certain bad situations due to any reason, they are incapable of tolerating the situation, thus finding ways to get relaxed by consuming these illegal drugs. But there are many serious effects associated with drug abuse, which includes physical risks, psychological risks, behavioral changes, poor academic performance, and addiction.

Mental Health Risks:
Mental health problems like depression, apathy, developmental lags, and other psychological dysfunctions are associated with substance drug abuse in youth. Suicidal thoughts and personality disorders arise more commonly in youth consuming these drugs. Also, marijuana usage among teens results in short-term memory, and decline in learning and psychomotor skills.

Physical Health Risks:
It is known that illegal drug usage frequently or occasionally results in physical health problems. Brain, respiratory and cardiovascular systems of the body may get damaged due to illegal drug addiction. Physical health risks in youth will in turn gives rise to many other severe problems in the later stages of the life.

Behavioral Changes:
Behavioral changes are common among youth addicted with illicit drugs. They try to be away from family and friends. They are also observed with peculiar behavior like resentful attitude, risky sexual behavior and violence or aggression. They may also involve in crime related activities.

Poor Academic Performance:
Teens habituated to substance drug abuse often get absent for school and other activities. Decline in grades and withdrawal from school activities are some of the common impacts of drug abuse in youth.

Addiction:
Of all the problems, the most serious effect is addiction. If once they get addicted to the drug, it may impact in horrible consequences on the individual and social life of teens.

It is the responsibility of parents to check the behavior of their teens. Drug testing kits can be used by them to find whether their children are addicted to drug abuse or not.