There are a large number of teenagers dealing with addiction today; in fact over 60% of teenagers have some sort of addiction. Don’t get confused, we are not talking only about alcohol, drug or tobacco addiction, there are many more types of addictions. The biggest problem with other types of addiction is not knowing that you have one, it is much harder to notice than with drug addiction. Most of the people don’t realize that the currently most active type of addiction is internet addiction. People are addicted to social media sites like MySpace, twitter or Facebook. They are literally spending over 15 hours online looking at the monitor. Unfortunately there are many more types of addictions.

One of the most common types of addiction and what we have to worry about the most is alcohol addiction. Many experts on this subject actually consider alcoholism to be a disease, well; there are differences of opinion on this matter. Alcoholism is very unpredictable, someone may drink for years and years and realize he is addicted and someone will get addicted the first time tasting alcohol.
Of course there is the always infamous drug addiction and with each drug comes different side effects and problems so this is really a topic of its own that requires special attention. Drug addiction is the most serious one as it may lead to fatalities very fast.

But the two most widely spread addiction types are not alcohol or drug addiction, its caffeine and tobacco addiction. Caffeine addiction is not a myth as many believe; caffeine stimulates central nervous system and alters the state of the body, which makes it addictive. Tobacco on the other hand is considered as the biggest menace among addictive pleasures, it doesn’t matter if you don’t smoke, a person next to you might be smoking and ruining your health in the process.

Other less known types of addictions include food addiction. This addiction can lead to heavy and serious medical problems. There is also the previously mentioned internet addiction, in fact it seem to be very popular. When I say popular I mean the fact that no one cares, no one is worried about it, it’s like it doesn’t exist at all. The fact that it is addiction tells people that there is something wrong with it. For example, our social skills will degrade over time, real life social skills. Another thing I personally don’t like about hanging too much online is that people are destroying their language, its LOL this, BRB that or TTL, and I actually heard people saying that out loud.

Addictions are much like we said and some of them are not even being taken serious just because of how it sounds, like relationship addiction for example. Do you believe me when I say there is such a thing like a relationship addiction and that it can border with mental issues in some cases. This addiction doesn’t have to be about a single person, it’s just a thirst and hungry desire to be with someone, never to be alone. When you think about it most of us has those fears, but are we addicted?

That is not all; you have the shopping addiction, which is the one where husbands wake up in the morning to find their wallets empty. That goes for teenagers with girlfriends, be careful, this is a really serious addiction that may cost you a lot of money. There are many more types of addictions, the fact is that we don’t recognize most of them and we don’t even want to admit that some of them exist, but at the same time we are supposed to fight them? That is really hard, first educate yourself than judge, if you can that is.
 

There are a great number of people out there that has some form of addiction, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes or even eating. The fastest growing number of drug addicts is seen in teenagers, which is an alarming fact. Even a more alarming fact is that 90% of the teenagers that have a drug addiction won’t admit it to themselves that they have a problem, they are simply unaware of that fact. So most of the times an intervention is needed to rise above the addiction.

Intervention is usually when family and friends gather to confront the member that has an addiction problem and try to convince him that he or she needs help. There are two parts of intervention, the talk and the action. Talk is when you discuss the problem with the person that has a substance abuse problem and making that person realize that he or she needs help, after that getting the issue in the open. Action is when you step up to the actual rehab program and try to get the harder part out of the way.

The talk, the first part, needs preparations. You need to have a plan of approach, sometimes it’s hard coming up with one all by yourself, so other members of the family and friends might help you deal with that. But maybe the best idea is to consult a professional, a doctor or a pediatrician, or even a school counselor. It might be a good idea to bring a professional to the intervention, they have experience with that sort of a situation and they might present a big help in getting rid of the addiction.

It is very important to pick the timing, you need to be sure that your child is clean headed and sober when you talk to him or her. You won’t get anywhere if you try to talk to your kid when he is high or coming down. It’s also important to pick the right place, so your home or some secluded private place would be the best option.
Then comes the hardest part, the actual talk. You need to remain calm at all times; you also need to reassure your teen child that you love him and that you are there for him. Once you present your concern and make everything clear on your side be sure to listen to what your child has to say, don’t leave him hanging after you said what you had. Once the talk is over the action part start, and that is finding the right help.

Finding the right treatment is never easy, and it depends on the situation. Your kid has the best chance of finding the right treatment if you first take him to an assessment. During the treatment you need to provide support for your child 24/7, but at the same time you need to think about yourself and how all of this affects you. In the end what good will it do if your child is clean on the cost of your own health?
 

By now we all know that drugs have become a part of our society, we don’t want it that way, but unfortunately that is the sad truth. We are all fighting to stop the use of drugs from spreading, especially on our kids, but before we actually do something we need to know what we are doing. And to know what we are doing we need to know what we are going up against, which means we need to know what drugs are used, how they affect the user, what are the dangerous effects of these drugs and how to prevent people, kids, our kids, from using them and if they do use them how to help them stop.

Now these are too many questions that need an answer, and we can’t cover a tenth of those here, so we will cover the most important things and we will provide you with sources to go to for more information, places where you can educate yourself and learn more about dealing with teen drug abuse.
The first thing you need to be aware of are stats that show the drug use by teenagers.
-    One out of four teenagers has used some drug in the past month
-    30% of kids in 8th grade have used some drug at one point
-    45% of kids in 10th grade have used some drugs at one point
-    53% of kids in 12th grade have used some drugs at one point
When you look at these high numbers you are clear on what you already knew, this problem is getting out of hand. We are showing you these stats because there are people out there that unfortunately won’t admit the fact that we have this problem in our backyard and that their children might also be using, or should we say abusing. Another scary fact is that more than 20% of parents find out about their teen drug abuse problem when it’s too late, when it’s time for rehab, and by that time the child may already have suffered severe consequences.
Now that we have gotten this out of the way the most important thing you need to know is what drugs are your kids using and how they affect them, and of course how to deal with them. So you need to learn about those drugs, educate yourself. I will list the most commonly used drugs by teenagers and you can use the links in this article to learn everything about those drugs.
-    Alcohol
-    Tobacco
-    Marijuana
-    Cold medications (Benadryl, Sudafed)
-    Inhalants (Gasoline, Glue)
-    Depressants (Barbiturates, Benzodiazepines)
-    Amphetamines
-    Cocaine
-    Speed
-    Morphine
-    Heroine
-    Hallucinogens (LSD, Acid)
-    Anesthetics
-    Ecstasy
-    Anabolic Steroids
Now you will agree that the biggest problem currently is not the hard drugs like Heroine or Cocaine, because those are heavy drugs that are harder to get. But there are plenty of over the counter medicine that kids can get easily; you keep most of them at home. Plus there are always school dealer and most of the club drugs like ecstasy can be found everywhere. Study those drugs and the effects, especially how they affect the teenagers behavior, if you do you have the chance to see it coming and stop it on time, before your teenager suffers damage caused by drug abuse.

Every time someone speaks about teen drinking issue they tend to repeat all the same things. Yes, they are a great problem and they may cause serious consequences that will scar a child for life, but by doing that they leave out other problems that teen drinking causes. Unfortunately for us all there is more to it than just drunk driving and unwanted pregnancy. Don’t get me wrong, both of those are serious issues, but compared to the rest they may as well stand in line to fight for the most dangerous effect of teenage drinking.

There are numerous problems besides teen pregnancy and drunk driving; one of the most dangerous ones is brain damage or inadequate brain development. Alcohol affects the brain development, the earlier the teenager starts drinking direr the consequences may be. Research shows that the each year that passes and teenagers doesn’t start drinking the risk of brain damage and alcohol addiction is reduced by 14%. On the other hand, if a teenager starts drinking at the age of 14 there are very high chances that he will become addicted to alcohol; the brain damage on the other hand can’t be estimated. If you check the stats you will see that over two thirds of straight A students are non drinkers, while more than two thirds of D students are heavily drinkers.


There are other problems that are related to teenage drinking, like suicide and consumption of other substances like marijuana, ecstasy and other drugs. Alcohol and depression is one of the most dangerous combinations for a teenager, which often leads to suicide attempts. Statistics show that teenagers that drink have twice as more chances of attempting a suicide than non drinkers; teenagers that drink excessively are four times more likely to attempt a suicide than nondrinkers.


A recent study at the Harvard medical school showed that girl teenagers drinking alcohol on daily basis are five times more likely to develop a benign breast cancer than a nondrinker. This is a very serious issue and it makes you wonder what other effects alcohol has on a developing teenager. There may be numerous other unwanted effects of alcohol for a child in development. Just the fact that we have teenagers at the age of 16 that are already heavy drinkers is alarming. Heavy drinking by teens is something we allowed to happen as parents and it is our duty to prevent that from happening. It’s not the issue here if we failed as parents; the issue here is what are we going to do not to fail in the future, for our kid’s sake and for the sake of their future.

Once you figure out that your child has a problem you as a parent are the most responsible person for his recovery, Yes your child will see a professional therapist, your child will get help from friends and school, but the most important kind of help and support is the one a teenager is getting from his family. This is the number one reason why you need to educate yourself if you find out that your teenage child has a drug abuse problem.

Drug abuse is something that can be treated, but it needs time and patience, the first step is admitting the problem, the next step is drug rehab.
The most important step you are going to take is choosing a drug rehab for your teenage child. It is of the greatest importance to choose a good teen drug rehab clinic. Here are a few steps to recognize a good drug rehab clinic and to know what you need to provide your teenage child with drug abuse problem. Lucky for you most drug rehab clinics will not let a teenager in an adult clinic, so if an adult clinic is recommended by someone you should avoid it. It’s hard enough for a teen to deal with his own identity, placing him in an adult clinic may confuse him even more, and that will not help your child get over that drug abuse problem.
You as a parent need to play an active role in the rehab, provide love, support and join as many family therapies as the clinic offers. Being there for your child is 50% of rehab. You also must take care that the rehab clinic provides active education; rehab is not a vacation from school, which can only harm your child even more. You also must understand that this is no time to be soft with your child, he made a mistake but you need to maintain some discipline if you don’t want your child to repeat the same mistake, be firm but compassionate. Once you get your child in a drug rehab clinic with other teens it will be much easier for your child to open up and share things, which is an important step to recovery.
You need to understand that most teenagers that used drugs are confused kids and they will gladly accept a second chance if someone offers it. That is your role, to care for your child and provide the best possible conditions no matter the circumstances, after all you are a loving parent and your child is in a crisis, it is your primary role to help him get out of that crisis.

It is common for any teenager to experiment during his or hers adolescence, so teens will try alcohol, cigarette and some of them even drugs. But how many of those teenagers can stop? Some of those teenagers will experiment and then they will move on, some will continue to use any of those substances occasionally and unfortunately some of them will move onto harder substance abuse. It is a fact that teenage substance abuse is on the rise; the only way to stop that is by noticing early symptoms.

Most teenagers that use alcohol and drugs have a few things in common, mostly their past and their family situation. Children with harsh family history, where signs of substance abuse can be found, are more likely to follow the same path. Children who are depressed and have low self esteem are also to be looked out for. Passive children that don’t fit into society, the ones that stand out are more likely to try something out of desperation, out of the wish to blend in, than children that seem to function normally and blend in with their friends.

Problem of teen drug abuse is not something that started yesterday. So we already know what to do in similar situation, but in order to intervene we must first know the symptoms. If you monitor your child you will see these symptoms, fatigue, personality change, depression, low self esteem, mood swings, defying authority, starting fights and arguments, negative attitude, low grades and sometimes even new friends and problems with the law.

There is no telling what your child may use; there are just too many substances abused by teenagers today. Most common ones are cigarettes, marihuana, cold medication, inhalants, depressants and other stimulants. There is no telling what children can get their hands on, but most of these things can’t be acquired without an adult. So most likely your child is stealing from your home supplies or he or she is getting it from some other adult. Parents must keep an eye on their children; first thing that should be done is sealing your medications away where children can’t find them. Of course you need to take care of people they socialize with. The biggest problem will be if your child is using heavy illegal drugs like cocaine, heroin, meth or some form of hallucinogens. In that case you need to provide immediate professional help.

The best way to deal with any possible situation is prevention. But considering the teenagers today you have to be careful, forbidding them to experiment may be contra productive, but you need to take care they keep it at a normal level where they don’t endanger their health. By keeping an eye out for your children you might influence him in a negative manner, so talking to your child is probably the best way, you don’t want him to get the feeling you are spying on him. Teen drug abuse is a serious problem on the rise, and according to the studies, it all starts and stops at home. Parents are responsible most of the times, so it is our duty as parents to stop that before it happens, we need to be aware.

Summer vacation and unsupervised teens usually go hand in hand in the months following the last day of school. Statistics show a 40-percent increase in first-time youth marijuana use during June and July, compared to the rest of the year. Where there is more freedom, there is also more temptation. Statistics show youthful experimentation with drugs, tobacco and alcohol is most likely to occur during an unsupervised time when teens are alone or with their peers. Some of the things that parents can do to prevent drug experimentation and use during these times are:

• Encourage your child to continue his/her after-school activities like sports.
• Insist on a summertime curfew.
• Get to know your child’s friends and families.
• Plan summer activities the entire family can enjoy together.

Dr. Albert Hofmann – Swiss scientist who first synthesized LSD on November 16 1939

Dr Humphry Osmond – gave LSD to alcoholics in Alcoholics Anonymous who had failed to quit drinking in the late 1950′s

Dr Ronald Sandison – pioneered the use of LSD in the united kingdom in 1952

Aldous Huxley – famous novelist who wrote about the dystopian novel Brave New World. Also, used other psychedelic drugs such as mescaline. His writings are his most important contribution to the proliferation of LSD.

“Captain” Al Hubbard – a ‘freelance’ apostle for LSD in the early 1950s, Hubbard worked at Vancouver’s Hollywood Hospital with Ross McLean, with psychiatrists Abram Hoffer and Dr. Humphry Osmond, with Myron Stolaroff at the International Federation for Advanced Study in Menlo Park, and with Willis Harman at Stanford Research Institute (SRI) running psychedelic sessions with LSD.

Various musicians such as The Doors, Grateful dead, Jimi Hendrix and the whole “acid rock” genre.

The use of marijuana by hippies is popularly known fact, it has been depicted in many Hollywood movies. It is also a highly effective way of making marijuana look innocent and benign to the eyes of teenagers. But let us also remember that cannabis is a very addicting drug that is believed to be a gateway drug to more potent and more dangerous drugs.

Even the hippies themselves moved on to the more potent drug called LSD after it was discovered and introduced in the mid 1960′s. There is also psilocybin and mescaline which are also hallucinogens that the hippies used.

Amphetamines and opiates were also used in the hippie settings, though these harder drugs were disdained because they were harmful and addictive.

Hippies are a major part of modern American history and culture. They played, and are probably still playing, a big role in the arts, music, fashion and the overall contemporary culture. Since the 1960′s hippies have existed as a counterculture of the mainstream population, but that doesn’t mean that they are not widely accepted in the normal society.

One of the most popular traditions of being a hippie is the use of drugs to “explore consciousness”. Drugs such as cannabis more popularly known as marijuana and LSD, a hallucinogenic drug, are two of the favorites in hippie culture. Even now that the whole hippie scene has diminished into an obscure idea that teenagers read about in books and magazines, their influence, specially in the use of drugs are still apparent.