Why do young people turn to drugs?

Young people take drugs for three main reasons; firstly - recreational use, secondly - to block bad memories out and thirdly - it’s all they know. It’s important to remember young people don’t just start taking drugs randomly, it always stems from somewhere. Obviously it’s much better to nip it in the bud but most time parents or care givers don’t find out until it’s too late (when they’re hooked).

It’s better to find out as much information as you can from the youth in a calm way. Finding out about his/her drugs use is very hard and you can’t expect them to easily open up. Once you have managed to gain relevant information, you are then able to act upon the situation. There are many services for young people with drug addictions you can look on the internet or in your telephone directory. In my personal opinion the best place to seek advice and a real referral is your Doctor or General Practitioner.

Like I stated before there are usually three main reasons why young people take drugs:

• Recreational use - This is when a person is only taking the substance socially, if a young person has stated this type of use then less support is required from outside services.
• Blocking bad memories - If a young person is trying to remove an emotional pain, sometimes they turn to drugs as it does what it’s designed to do, make you forget your life, your surroundings. For that split second you’re not yourself. You have no cares no worries and everything is okay. If a young person is expressing this type of use then this will require more support from outside organizations (counselling, family mediation) and a lot of support from family and friends.
• It’s all they know - It’s a sad factor but it’s a real situation that many children and young people face in their life, if there is no government/state intervention then more than likely that young person will become a product of their environment. They will follow the same path as their parents. If this is the case for any young person social services must be notified as soon as possible.

It is important to identify the route of the problem before just diving in. You need to make sure the young person is ready to take action; you can’t just force them to do something it never works!

With any drug programmes, there are certain requirements from the young person depending on the drug they take i.e. heroine for your methadone prescription you would have to provide a urine sample.

There are many different treatments available for drug users; it all depends on what suits them

Examples

·         Relaxation

·         Aroma therapies

·         Acupuncture

·         Prescription medicines

·         Sleep teas

·         Detox

·         Rehabs

·         Counselling

There isn’t enough help out there for young people with drug abuse issues, so you need to know where best to go and what suite the young person.

When a young person especially someone your close to is taking drugs it’s easy to get angry about the situation, but remember you need to offer support and guidance. You never can get angry at them, well not to their face at least. That is just giving them an excuseto do it more.

A lot of drug dependent people, when in the process of becoming “clean,” do relapse. Always remember there’s an underling issue, so once again give more support and don’t get mad!

Many Young people succumb to taking drugs and they always have a reason. Drugs are becoming a normality within society, most people won’t admit to it but most have tried some type of drug in their life time.