The Drug Epidemic

I never really knew how drugs could impact somebody. I could name a few, and I was always told to stay away from them, but I had never seen what they could do to somebody, and especially at such a young age. I recently saw a movie called Beautiful Boy that starred Timothee Chalamet and Steve Carell. It was based on a true story about how Nic Sheff was a thriving teenage boy until his addiction to meth started to destroy him. His dad, David Sheff was doing everything he can to help him overcome this difficult journey. While my movie and book review on Beautiful Boy is a whole separate topic, the topic of addiction at such a young age took an interest on me. After seeing the movie and reading the books I was shocked that while the popular topic of mental illness and teenage suicide is heavily talked about, why is the topic of teenage addiction not? Mental illness is very important, but so is addiction. It’s a serious epidemic that can happen to so many people so easily. What really is drug addiction? How and why do people become so addicted to drugs?

Addiction is a chronic disease that is compulsive and difficult to control, despite harmful consequences that can be physical or emotional. When used repetitively, drug use can lead to brain changes that challenge an addicted person’s self-control. It will interfere with their ability to resist intense drugs. These brain changes can be continual which is why drug addiction is considered a “relapsing” disease. People in recovery from intense and abusive drug use are at a big risk for returning to drugs even after years of not taking the drug because of how the brain will forever have the memory of that drug. The brain damage after taking drugs for a long time can affect learning, judgment, stress, memory, and behavior.

Some people are more addicted to drugs than others. Why? Purely because of genetics. If someone has had a member in their family who has had addiction problems in the past, they have an addiction gene that runs through their family. Someone who has addiction running in their family is more likely to become addicted to drugs than someone who doesn’t. Other factors can make up if someone is more easily influenced to take drugs. These factors can be mental disorders, which is one of the big factors that can affect someone’s drug addiction because of how they can be diagnosed to take certain drugs, but then become addicted. Another big factor is environment, which includes someone’s economic status. Things like peer pressure, being sexually abused, and being exposed to drug use at an early age can all influence drug use. Age also plays a huge role. Drug addiction largely impacts teens because teenagers are still developing mentally in areas such as decision making, self-control, and also being peer pressured to take drugs.

Why is does addiction have such a negative stigma? Addiction is such a common thing, especially in America. For example, the 2014 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that 21.5 Americans from the age 12 and older have had a substance use disorder in the previous year, but only 2.5 million received the specialized treatment they needed. Why? A lot of teenagers do not understand that they can get help at therapy, rehab centers, and AA meeting that are accessible to everyone. Drug addiction can happen to any teenager no matter what race or gender. It is very important to be aware that drug users should not have a negative stigma. Recovery Brands conducted a survey of people who have used drugs, and participants provided answers about how they wished that people in society understood addiction. There was a study done by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, the general public was more likely to have negative attitudes towards those with a drug addiction than those who were dealing with mental illness. Just because someone was an addict does not mean that they are a bad person.

When many teenagers are starting high school the need the need to fit in is important. Unfortunately, at some high schools a popular way to fit in an experiment is being peer pressured to take drugs. Again, some people get addicted to drugs more easily than others, and once they first start in high school it can carry out with them. Some teenagers can turn to drugs to become popular or to self-medicate, which is not a way to help either. Drugs can be easily accessible to teenagers, nearly 44% of high school students know a classmate who sells drugs. When they were asked which drugs are sold: 91% said marijuana, 24% said prescription drugs, 9% said cocaine, and 7% said ecstasy. Many teenagers who start using in high school will have memory problems, lifelong brain issues are common, and kids who start before age 15 are 6 times more likely to develop alcoholism later in life than individuals who wait until 21. It not only can affect academics, but also physical features. Studies have shown that high school boys who were addicted to weed were an average of 4.6 inches shorter when they reached age of 20.

Overall, drugs can be a very tough and scary thing to overcome and go through. If we try to diminish the stigma that all addicts are bad people, than we can try to help anyone we know that is going through this epidemic. There are many resources to help battle addiction such as:

• Covenant House Teen Hotline (Nine Line); 1 (800) 999-9999.
•   National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD); 1 (800) NCA-CALL (622-2255)
• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA); 1 (800) 662-HELP (4357)
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline; 1 (800) 662-HELP (4357) & 1 (800) 487-4889 (TDD) for hearing impaired
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline; 1 (800) 273-TALK (8255)
• The Partnership at Drugfree.org; 1 (855) DRUG-FREE (378-4373)

Eleanor Renfrew, 2024- Feature
Photo Credit: Ensia