Drugs And Alcoholism: Why Are Teenagers Involved? Essay, Research Paper

Adolescence is much like a midpoint in ones life; when a person is neither a kid nor an adult. At this period, teens have passed the age when they were called kids but are not yet qualified to be adults. Teenagers want to think like adults, behave like adults and also start to view themselves as independent beings in decision making. All this hormonal changes also come with the negativity of maturity such as drugs and alcohol. The statistics below show that the percentage of teenagers using drugs and alcohol in the last decade has increased. Why is this? The answer is that teenagers are under pressure by their peers, mass media and also the influence of parents.

8th-Graders

10th-Graders

12th-Graders

Marijuana

22.2%

40.9%

49.7%

Cocaine

4.7

7.7

9.8

Inhalants

15.4

17.0

19.7

LSD

4.1

8.5

12.2

Heroin

2.0

2.3

2.3

Alcohol

52.1

70.6

80.0

Cigarettes

44.1

57.6

64.6