To keep your kids from succumbing to alcoholism and or drug addiction, you need to understand the way that each works. Understanding is always the key to providing viable solutions in any situation, but understanding the way addiction and alcoholism affect individuals will give you a much better approach to helping somebody find recovery.

Here are some facts from Rehab International that you’ll find helpful, in this regard:

Survey Results

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) conducted a review of drug practices by users 12-17 years of age. The review conducted ended up showing drug patterns prevalent in old kids and young teens.

The results showed that:

  • As users grew in age, they started to try out other drugs as well
  • Marijuana seems the easiest drug to access since 12-13 year olds already had access to the drug
  • Marijuana users increase with age
  • Cocaine use starts at around 16-17 years of age

Probable Causes

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) provides us with a clear look into what factors compelled pre-teens and teenagers to experiment with drug abuse:

  • Lack of sufficient parental guidance and supervision. If kids spend a lot of their time on their own, alone or isolated, then they might think about turning to drug abuse as a way to deal with the loneliness. Some do it for the ‘high’ they get when they do drugs, a sensation that isn’t unlike happiness.
  • Spending a lot of time with heavy substance abuse users. Kids follow what they see. And if they grow up in an environment where substance abuse is prevalent, then that could make it seem normal for them to indulge in such activities as well.
  • Easy access to drugs. One major factor of drug abuse if the easy access kids have to drugs. Kids are naturally curious and will try out most of anything. If drugs are accessible to them, they might think there’s nothing wrong with using marijuana.
  • Drugs can numb down the hunger pangs. With no means to support themselves, some kids are turning to drug abuse in order to kill the hunger pangs and get through every day.

Conclusion

Knowing the factors that influence drug use in kids, you can take steps to ensure your kids understand how wrong it is and why they should avoid doing it—at all costs. If your kids need counseling to better understand the situation, The Good Center, our rehab facility in Los Angeles, is a good place to start.