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Angeleen Chacon
Instructor Jason Roberts
English 1010
August 5, 2015
Position Synthesis Final
Juvenile Drug Abuse

Growing up, my family did an outstanding job leaving me out of "adult"

conversations pertaining to drugs, sex, and violence. Junior high is when I
began to notice things outside of my norm with my peers, for instance
hearing a friend in a rush to drop off a sack to his homie. Who drops off an
empty grocery bag to someones house? I would think along those lines. My
childhood left me so nave. Once I questioned my peers then asked my
parents for further guidance, I did not care to know any further until the
subject became more prominent when I was 16. Unfortunately, this is not the
case for millions of other children and adolescents growing up.
Substance abuse among adults has been a big topic since the early
1900's, with acts targeted to prevent further addiction like the "Harrison Act
of 1914" abstaining from letting doctors provide prescription narcotics to

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addicts. Or the "Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Control Act of 1970" that
started a new rule on classifying controlled substances based on the
extremes they could go to leading to addition, abuse, etc. It was not until
the word got out of adolescent substance abusers within the past 20 years
when eyebrows started raising. There became a shift on what age group the
government and adults needed to focus on. The only dilemma was the
government did not know how to help the youth. Juveniles are dealing with
drug abuse differently than adults are. So because of my late introduction to
substance abuse, I have been questioning who makes young people think
that drugs are the answer? My answer is the adult figures that play a role in
the youths life, the media all around them, and their peers standing side by
side them every day.
The difference between adults and the youth is their experience and
their brain. With an adult, 7 times out of 10 they have chosen drugs as a
path to end their life because of their experiences and deterioration. With
adolescents, they are focused more on the social aspect of doing drugs. This
is not to say that all the adolescents that have or continue to do drugs start
out like this.
I am going to start with one role that plays a factor in this matter, peer
pressure. Falling victim to juvenile peer pressure is a no brainer. Whether it is
your friend, a group you are trying to fit in to, a gang, or a local drug dealer.
You walk into the conversation standing by your side, then you have 5-10

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other people telling you you are wrong and you need to stand on their side.
So of course, you are outnumbered and you switch sides without questioning
your peers authority. Exhibiting your ground with self-confidence is
challenging for the side with one person, because most teenagers lack the
education to exhibit so. Being a victim of peer pressure more often than once
is making that juvenile slowly susceptible to substance abuse. An article from
the CODA (Council of Drug Abuse) stated, Youth are at an age at which
everything is changing; their brains are developing, they are maturing, social
classes are forming and they are trying to figure out where they fit in. (Drug
Abuse Among LGBT Youth, para. 2) Giving into peer pressure will also lead to
more problems not just with substance abuse, from what I have found in the
many articles I have read. I chose to talk about this role in encouraging
juvenile drug abuse because this is where more factors stem from. The
adolescent begins to lose their voice if they are unable to stand on their own
two feet with their head held high. A young persons environment is what is
going to make certain of which path this juvenile walks.
In conjunction to environment, development, and form, the media in
this day and age is a huge contender both negatively and a positively now.
The positive remarks are new, so I definitely see the media as a step ahead
in cohesively making a difference in preventing adolescent substance abuse.
With the negative remarks, the whole purpose of media and now social
media is for entertainment. There has been progression with the form of said

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entertainment since the 1900s, so without question they had to think

outside the box to keep the viewers entertained.
That 70s Show is a TV Series that aired its pilot episode in 1998,
running 8 seasons since, ending in 2006. This TV series involved a handful of
teenage kids in a neighborhood that sit down around a round table and
smoke Marijuana for a while, in every episode nearly. Then once they leave
the circle they do stupid stuff and hang out in this kids basement all day.
Sometimes going outside to play basketball, or go on vacation, but hardly.
Their script and stints that they do make people laugh the most when they
claim to be high on Marijuana. Then once their parents found out they are
smoking weed, it is not that big of a deal because some of them do it too. So
now this gives kids a portrayal of information saying: 1. Drugs arent bad 2.
As long as youre with your friends youll have fun 3. And who knows, your
parents might be doing it too. Granted they only smoked Marijuana and for
strict social settings, it is just tough when you are looking at both sides with
the statistics of knowing that Marijuana is a gateway drug.
Luckily bills have passed to offer anti-drug supporters more money to
fund advertisements and events based off living drug free not just with
teenagers. Further stating, a quote from the NIDAs (National Institute on
Drug Abuse) website, regarding the benefactors of drug prevention and
treatment education in advertisements nearly took the words out of my
mouth, Social media had the potential to fill important gaps in our current

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understanding of tobacco, alcohol and drug use and to improve the efficacy
of substance abuse interventions. Which is highly needed, the gaps said
in the quote are making the kids seek risk for a false reward. Risk being
drugs, false reward meaning acceptance.
The word acceptance alone is strong enough to not need an
explanation. Coincide acceptance and support with an adult figure and now I
am going to discuss the last role that plays an affect in encouraging juvenile
drug abuse. You know, because we are mammals and we learn how to adapt
and maintain on earth from people who teach us. More so parents, and on a
bigger scale any adult figure in that adolescents life. It is hard for a kid to be
left to fend for themselves. With all the questions, concerns, stress, anxiety,
depression following in the midst and soon after. Showing a teenager drugs
from a peer is different from an adult. Peer to peer education is immaturity,
peer to adult education has extremely higher chances of being beneficial
education if explained correctly. To better state my point, I will compare it to
a monkey-see-monkey-do affect. The adolescent notices their uncle had a
long tiring day at work, so they go to the liquor cabinet to have a couple
glasses of wine that evening. Time and time again as the uncle continues to
do that after a long day at work, the adolescent will then think that is an
okay way of solving their problems if they succumb to stress. So the kid will
not even bother asking why. Now, play that same situation, and then end it
with the uncle explaining: why he is having those two glasses of wine,
instilling education in why he is not over doing their drinks, and concluding

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their lecture with: when the adolescent is older (with more maturity and
responsibility) the uncle would hope he/she will make acceptable choices to
him/hers health pertaining to alcohol. How much more of an enlightening
difference do you think the adolescent would have had with the second
monkey-see-monkey-do education? Tremendous would be an
understatement. With that being the kids uncle speaking, he did not have a
say in what that child does with their life, although that simple suggestion
can go a long way. The parents would have no fuss backing him up either, if
they were involved. If the parent was not involved in their childs life, this is
where the uncle and their environment is going to define them from all
angles.
Adult figures mean a great deal more to a foster child, or someone
locked up in the system for instance. Do not let that detract you from the
matter of them meaning everything to adolescents in general though. You
put a kid in a situation they are foreign to, leave them blindsided to making
logical choices. Not only is the kids illogical decision affecting him/her, now
it is affecting the government, their community, their family, and society as a
whole. They will be added to more statistics, gain more prejudicial
judgments, and even lower their self-esteem to a whole new low from the
backlash.
This is big, this is an epidemic concerning the generation now, as well
as the future generation. Its hard to fight drug use among teens, but it can

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be done. Young people are more intelligent than we often give them credit
for being. If we talk with them about specific drugs and their negative
effects, it will go a long way towards winning the battle against teen drug
use. Said so graciously from the CRC Health website, a member of the
Arcadia Healthcare. The time is now to change these negative factors into
beneficial factors. The youth need to hear the blunt truth of the real world,
from people who have already experienced a great deal, to tell them what
mistakes not to make. There is so much controversy pointing the finger
directly at the teachers, parents, grandparents, organizations, etc. saying
they are the ones at blame for why substance abuse among teenagers. I say
adults in general need to recognize their role in society with every single
person they cross paths with. To raise awareness of the things that matter
with life to make a difference.
If I do not sound like a broken record yet, juvenile drug abuse has a
great significance to everyone in this world. Some people may not care now,
but just wait until it has to do with them. When you have an employee
interviewing teenagers countless times a day for an easy job that none of
them qualify for, because they do not display the proper morals and
etiquette internally and externally.
Speaking on all three of the factors in juvenile drug abuse, peer
influence, media, and adult figures, I have come to find out that they all also
have empowering influences with preventing and treating substance abuse.

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In regards to being a significant role in a juveniles downward spiral in life.

Having one being a boost to another role ruining that juveniles life. What a
crazy epidemic that can easily be solved. So this does not end here for me
with research. I am seeing potential to find organizations in my own city to
volunteer my service for others. Adolescents are paying attention to their
surroundings more than anyone can fathom. Coming from a twenty one year
olds perspective, we just want the truth in all its entirety.

Works Cited

"Drug Abuse." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection. Detroit: Gale, 2015.

Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 3 Aug. 2015.
"Adolescent Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse." Colorado State University
Extension. J.L. Matheson and R.T. McGrath, Jr. Web. 3 Aug. 2015.
"Factors of Teen Drug Use." CRC Health Group. Web. 3 Aug. 2015.
Sharma, Manoj. "Substance abuse in adolescents: implications for research
and practice." Journal of Alcohol & Drug Education 59.1 (2015):
3+. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 4 Aug. 2015.
"Questions and Answers." Drug Prevention. Web. 3 Aug. 2015.
"DRUG ABUSE AMOUNG LGBT YOUTH." Council on Drug Abuse (CODA). Web.
3 Aug. 2015.
"Media and Adolescent Substance Abuse." John Hopkins Children's Center.
2011. Web. 5 Aug. 2015.
"Preface to 'Do the Media Promote Teen Drug Abuse?'." Teen Drug Abuse. Ed.
Pamela Willwerth Aue. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing
Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 5 Aug. 2015.

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"Drug Abuse Prevention Starts with Parents." HealthyChildren.org. Web. 5

Aug. 2015.
"Why Does Peer Pressure Influence Teens To Try Drugs?" NIDA for Teens. Web.
5 Aug. 2015.
"Children, Adolescents, Substance Abuse, and the Media." Children,
Adolescents, Substance Abuse, and the Media. Web. 5 Aug. 2015.
"That '70s Show." IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 5 Aug. 2015.
"Using Social Media to Better Understand, Prevent, and Treat Substance
Use." National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Web. 5 Aug. 2015.