Substance use is a recurring problem among large numbers of U.S. teens and younger children. Substance abuse experts and mental health professionals know that, broadly speaking, the presence of certain psychiatric problems increases the likelihood that people in these age groups will start drinking or taking drugs. In a study published in December 2013 in the journal Addiction, researchers from two U.S. universities examined the connection between three specific psychiatric problems — conduct disorder, depression and anxiety — and the onset of substance use among teenagers, preteens and younger kids. The researchers also looked at how the specific timing of these problems affects the risks for substance use.
Author Archives: Texas Drug Rehab
Drug, Medication Abuse Show Sharp Increase, Survey Finds
Substance abuse and substance addiction are two separate but overlapping conditions that can occur in people who misuse alcohol or a broad spectrum of medications and illegal drugs. In mental health terms, the single diagnosis used to account for both of these conditions is substance use disorder. Every year, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration uses a nationwide effort called the National Survey on Drug Use and Health to roughly determine how many U.S. teenagers and adults qualify as substance abusers or substance addicts.
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Heroin Use On the Rise
Heroin is a well-known opioid narcotic substance noted for its ability to trigger drug abuse, drug addiction and fatal drug overdoses. In recent months, this substance has reentered the public consciousness as a highly visible personal and public health danger. The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration tracks heroin-related statistics for all U.S. teenagers and adults through an annual venture called the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. These statistics include such things as the overall number of people who use the drug and the number of people who use it for the first time in any given year.
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Which Hallucinogenic Drugs Are Currently Common in the U.S.?
Hallucinogenic drugs, also known as hallucinogens, are substances that produce their effects by altering the information entering the brain through one or more of the senses. A small but substantial minority of teenagers and adults in the U.S. use these powerful substances, which can have a strongly negative effect on mental and physical health and well-being. In a study published in January 2014 in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, a team of American researchers assessed the current popularity of various hallucinogenic drugs.
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Meth Use and HIV Infection a Devastating Combination
Methamphetamine is a powerful, addictive stimulant drug known for its ability to trigger a declining capacity for impulse control and rational decision-making in habitual users. For this and other reasons, infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is relatively common among people who regularly take the drug. In a study published in 2013 in the Journal of Addiction Medicine, researchers from the University of California, San Diego looked at the ways in which methamphetamine use and HIV infection combine to contribute to a downward spiral of health in affected individuals.
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Number of Teens Taking Up Smoking Stubbornly High
Tobacco products are a range of commercially available items that have nicotine-containing tobacco as their sole or primary ingredient. In addition to cigarettes, common examples of these products include cigars, pipe tobacco and forms of smokeless tobacco such as chewing tobacco and snuff. Each year, a federally sponsored project called the National Survey on Drug Use and Health compiles information related to tobacco use in all American teenagers and adults. This information includes the number of people who initiate tobacco intake in any given 12-month time period.