Teen Drug Abuse Symptoms, Warning Signs, Risk Factors, Treatment

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Teen Drug Abuse

Medical Author:

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, MD

Dr. Roxanne Dryden-Edwards is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist. She is a former Chair of the Committee on Developmental Disabilities for the American Psychiatric Association, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and Medical Director of the National Center for Children and Families in Bethesda, Maryland.

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Medical Editor:

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

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Teen drug abuse facts

There are many stages of drug abuse, ultimately leading to difficulty in managing one's life as a result of using drugs.
Individuals who begin using drugs as juveniles are at greater risk of becoming addicted compared to those who begin drug use as an adult due to the immaturity of the teenage brain, particularly of that part of the brain that controls impulses.
The symptoms of drug abuse include tolerance to a substance, withdrawal episodes, using more drugs for longer periods of time, and problems managing life issues due to the use of a drug.
Substance abuse is caused by a number of individual, family, genetic, and social factors rather than by any one cause.
Although a number of genes play a role in the development of substance abuse, this is a disease in which other factors more strongly influence its occurrence.
Substance-abuse treatment is usually treated based on the stage of the addiction, ranging from management of risk factors and education to intensive residential treatment followed by long-term outpatient care and support.

What drugs are abused by teenagers?

Virtually every drug that is abused by adults is also abused by adolescents. In addition to alcohol, common categories of drugs of abuse include the following:

Tobacco products (for example, cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco)
Cannabinoids (for example, marijuana, hashish), sometimes called "pot, weed, Mary Jane, or herb" and is smoked in a "joint," "blunt," "bong," "backwood," or pipe
Cold medications (for example, chlorpheniramine and pseudoephedrine [Sudafed], diphenhydramine [Benadryl]
Inhalants (for example, gasoline, ammonia), the use of which is often referred to as "huffing"
Depressants (for example, barbiturates, benzodiazepines), sometimes called "reds, yellows, yellow jackets, downers or roofies"
Stimulants (for example, amphetamines, cocaine, methamphetamine), sometimes called "bennies, black beauties, speed, uppers, blow, crack, rock, toot, crank, crystal, or skippy"
Narcotics (for example, morphine, heroin, codeine, oxycodone [Oxycontin], hydrocodone/acetaminophen [Vicodin], sometimes called cody, schoolboy, dope, Tango and Cash, or monkey"
Hallucinogens (for example LSD, "mushrooms"), sometimes called "acid, yellow sunshines, buttons, or shrooms"
Dissociative anesthetics (for example, phencyclidine/PCP, ketamine), sometimes called "lovely, boat, Love Boat, angel dust, K, vitamin K, or cat" and whose use is often referred to as "getting wet"
Club drugs (for example, Ecstasy), sometimes called "X"
Others (for example, anabolic steroids), sometimes called "juice or roids"