Addiction in Adolescents

Addiction in adolescents is becoming to be a common thing in the United States. Addictions can vary in many different ways for example smoking, drinking, misusing prescription drugs and using illegal drugs. The drug that is most familiar with adolescents is marijuana. One in 15 high school seniors smokes marijuana on a daily or near daily basis. Adolescents have many reasons for using drugs. Some use them for the pleasurable experience they supposedly provide. Others use them to try to escape from the pressures of everyday life. (Feldman, 2014) One of the newest reasons for using drugs is to enhance academic performance. A growing number of high school students are using drugs such as Adderall, an amphetamine prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

This drug is assumed to increase focus and is thought to increase the ability to study for long hours. (Feldman, 2014). Another drug of choice in adolescents is the use of alcohol. Although having an alcoholic drink every once and awhile is not a problem, it only becomes a problem if it is consumed in a binge manner. It is defined for men as drinking five or more drinks in one sitting and for woman who tend to weigh less and whose body absorb alcohol less efficiently, binge drinking is defined as four drinks in one sitting. (Feldman, 2014). Among the newer drugs of today’s adolescents are K2, Molly.

Studies show that between 5% and 7% of high school students have tried what they thought was Molly, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. When it first came out, it was a pure form of a banned drug called MDMA or Ecstasy, which is known for producing feelings of euphoria and friendliness. Teens think it is pure Ecstasy and that it is somehow safe. Molly today is neither pure nor safe, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Molly can be pretty much anything. Molly is whatever the seller wants to say is Molly. In one region, only about 13% of the samples that were submitted to...