Prescription drug abuse: a problem among adolescents
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Authors
Odunaike, Mosun
Issue Date
2015
Type
Thesis
Language
en
Keywords
Forensic sciences
Alternative Title
Abstract
As teenagers go through the adolescent stage the pressures they encounter can become both physically and emotionally overwhelming. The need to belong and be accepted by their peers could lead them the wrong path. It is up to parents to take the first initiative in educating their children on the importance of making the right decision, explain the repercussion of making the wrong choices, and instilling in them trust and confidence. This research study aims to understand the trends in drug abuse over the past five years (2010 to 2014) among both adolescents (age 12 to 17) and adults (aged 18 to 25). The popularity of different illicit drug among both age groups as well as the popularity of different illicit drug among both male and female adolescents will also be analyzed. The data used for this study comes from the yearly survey that is completed by The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). This study focused on results from surveys completed between the year 2010 and 2014 on the use of illicit drug excluding marijuana and comprises of respondents ages 12 to 25 with a yearly annual sample size ranging from 33,455 to 46,386 (SAMSHA, 2015a). The data used to analyze the gender differences in prescription drug overdose comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics online database; an online database of the national vital statistic record.