Teens Under the Influence (eBook)

Why Kids Get Hooked

Fighting the stigma of alcohol and drug problems in youth presents us with a real challenge because there are really two pervasive stigmas--abusing alcohol and other drugs and being an adolescent.

Coupled with the stigma is our imperfect understanding of the reasons and mechanisms that lead to these problems. Substance-use disorders are truly complex and involve an interaction of biological and environmental forces. When we add in the influence of the family, peers, boredom, the natural risk-taking of adolescents, serious co-occurring emotional and behavioral disorders, and the sheer availability of alcohol and other drugs, we've clearly got a complicated situation on our hands.

On the other hand, this very complexity gives us more choices for early intervention and treatment tailored specifically to the individual adolescent's needs, and these innovative methods are showing more and more promise.

A seven-year-old friend of mine named Chandler put it best: 'Kids need Health.'

--David Lewis, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Community Health, Donald G. Millar Distinguished Professor of Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University, and project director of the Physician Leadership on National Drug Policy

1.

The Road Less Traveled

The only good is knowledge, and the only evil is ignorance

--Socrates

The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand.

--Frank Herbert

Thomas is a tall, good-looking kid with a winning smile and a cocky attitude. Intelligent and articulate, he seems much older than his sixteen years.

In the last four years, Thomas has been arrested eleven times for assault, malicious mischief, reckless endangerment, minor-in-possession and minor-in-consumption charges, and various probation violations. This time he's locked up in the Juvenile Justice Detention Center for thirty days, it's the fourth time he's been in detention in the last seven months.

Thomas knows he has a problem with alcohol, but he isn't worried. He thinks he can quit whenever he wants.

'I just don't want to,' he says with a confident smile. 'Alcohol makes me feel good, you know, happy, crazy, full of myself. It gives me liquid courage--I feel like I can be and do anything.'

He drinks, he says, for all sorts of reasons--to get high, to get numb, to get crazy with his friends, to forget about his troubles, to feel good, to feel better. 'I don't always like myself when I'm sober,' he admits, the cocky attitude disappearing for a moment. 'But after a few six-packs, I feel much better about myself.'

On what Thomas calls a 'normal' night, he'll drink three forties (120 ounces of beer). On a party night, he'll drink a case of beer or more.

When he drinks, he does stupid things. He drives drunk, or he gets into cars with other drunk drivers. He has sex with girls he doesn't know and doesn't care about.

He doesn't use condoms when he's drunk because they're 'too much trouble.' He steals money and possessions from his friends and neighbors or he sells his own CDs, clothes, or PlayStation games to get money to buy more beer.

He gets belligerent when he drinks and often gets into fights with his friends or with strangers. 'I get angry and aggressive,' he admits. 'People tell me I get 'that stupid look.' That's when I start arguing and fighting with everyone, even with my best friends.

'I think I'm so tough, you know,' he adds with a sideways grin.

Thomas has blackouts ('lots of them') when he doesn't remember a single detail of the night before. He's frightened by the fact that he feels like he's...