Free «Teenage Drug Use; a Prevailing Problem in California» Essay Paper

Teenage drug abuse is emanating a gigantic force to reckon with around me in California. In fact, this is confirmed by statistics from National Institute of Drug Abuse that the rise in drug abuse among teenagers has risen immensely over the decade with the use of marijuana among the teenagers shooting up to 80% (NIDA, 2012). This implies that in a drug infested state like California, one out of ten teens use drugs at a frequency of at least twenty times in a month. Unfortunately, this can be described as a grotesque scenario owing to the fact that these teens in my surrounding are high school students. Monitoring the Future (MTF) reports indicate that about 44% of teens have at least tried marijuana when they finish their high school.

Effects of drug abuse

Due to extreme drug abuse in California, health of teenagers has become a great worry. This is because abuse of Marijuana results into heightened euphoria, sensory perception, increased heart rate, damaged short-term memory, judgment, attention, balance and coordination. The long term effect in the state has also manifested namely; addiction. In relation, it came to light that close to 9% of teens, representing one out of six of daily users faced mental disorder (NIDA, 2012). The causal factor in this case is schizophreniform disorders normally associated with anxiety and depression. With brain damage and health issues, teenage education is strongly interfered with since most the ones who find themselves at the wrong side of law have to spend their time in rehab while concentration in class also goes down.

Causes of teen drug abuse in California

According to Mayo Clinic, absent parenting is the primary cause of teen drug abuse. In southern California where it is like an epidemic, Parents who skip supervision have a tendency of missing o notice the signs of initial drug experimentation. It also goes hand in hand with failure to provide discipline; moral education and support making them turn into finding alternative realities which in some way glamorize in drug abuse. Other two major causes are drug availability and peer influence. This happens because teens have a tendency of displaying their newly found independence by tying out new activities.