The purpose of this piece of writing is not to compare the different methods of approaching drug prevention, or say what methods are not working. It is to simply state that the more the family takes action or gets involved with each others live, problems such as drug abuse will become obsolete. Many different attempts to lower the drug rate have been in placed by society. But despite years of anti drug campaigns within the school and media, drug abuse amongst teenagers in society continues to rise. At home drug testing and emphasis on anti drugs within the family will prove to lower the use of illegal drugs amongst teens. More and more teenagers are experimenting with illegal drugs in today’s society. A 1996-1997 PRIDE survey of more than 140 000 teens showed that drug abuse amongst eleven to fourteen year Olds is rising. 11.4% of jr. high students monthly use marijuana, cocaine and other illicit drugs. The number of new heroin cases involving the youth increased by 53%. A study done at the University of Columbia has found that drugs are more readily available and used by the youth. Other surveys have found that drug abuse by high school seniors jumped 27% in 1993, 20% in 1994 and another 9% in 1995. At the age of twelve to seventeen, 2.9 million teens have used marijuana, compared to 1.4 million the past year. As if these statistics were not shocking enough, I found that in 1996 24% of eighth graders, 21 to 38% of tenth graders, and 29 to 40% of twelfth graders have been using marijuana. The fact that these problems exist makes one think what is being done to protect today’s adolescents from a life of drug abuse. Despite these facts, there are programs in place. The educational system has provided a variety of service projects and courses to help combat the ever growing drug problem. In today’s society the Federal government has required public schools to teach drug prevention since 1987. Also if you ...
