http://www.fpnotebook.com/

Adolescent Drug AbuseAka: Adolescent Chemical Dependency, Drug Abuse in Adolescents

See Also
1. Chemical Dependency
2. Substance Abuse Evaluation
Drug progression among teen users (NY study n=7611)
1. Level 1: Alcohol and Tobacco use
2. Level 2: Marijuana ("Gateway Drug")
3. Level 3: Stimulants, Inhalants or Hallucinogen use
4. Level 4: Cocaine abuse
5. Level 5: Crack use
Social corollaries to escalating use
1. Declining:
  1. Decreasing Grades and Homework time
  2. Decreasing Family and Religious involvement
  3. Decreased parental rule following
  4. Decreasing health status
2. Rising
  1. Increased absenteeism
  2. Increased doctor visit frequency
Efficacy of school programs
1. D.A.R.E school based program is ineffective
  1. West (2004) Am J Public Health 94:1027
Resources
1. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
  1. http://www.tobaccofreekids.org
2. School Health Program Guidelines
  1. http://www.cdc.gov/needphp/dash/guide.htm
References
1. (1994) Am Fam Physician 50(8):1737

Navigation Tree

Please see the Terms and Conditions. Please also see the privacy statement regarding advertising on this page. Although access to this page is not restricted, the information found here is intended for use by medical providers. Patients should address specific medical concerns with their physicians.

This page was written by Scott Moses, MD. This page was last revised before 5/10/08, prior to consistent tracking of revision date. This page was last published on 6/1/2008. Please send comments and questions to the editor. Contact information may be found on the page About the Family Practice Notebook. These pages are best viewed with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0.