Retired

Abstract

This paper is about the use marijuana and the outcomes of using the drug among adolescents ages ten through thirteen, fourteen through seventeen, and eighteen thorough twenty two. It also compares the use of marijuana between Black Americans and Hispanics.

ADOLESCENTS AND MARIJUANA USE

The illegal importation, manufacture, distribution, possession and improper use of controlled substances such as marijuana have a detrimental effect on the health and general welfare of the American People. That is why the Federal Drug Policy act was established, which prohibits the use of illegal drugs such as marijuana. The use of illicit drugs is considered a crime, and it is also not accepted by most of society. America's drug policies are strictly oriented towards zero tolerance.

A 2005 survey by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that drugs are commonly used and readily available to the nation's youth. More than forty-eight percent of high school seniors have reportedly tried illicit drugs mainly marijuana. The use of drugs among the young is mostly experimental yet parents remain concerned that their children's drug use could get out of hand.

Marijuana is used for the intoxication or "high" that it gives most users. For most adolescents, marijuana is not difficult to obtain. Besides alcohol, the first drug most adolescents abuse is marijuana, simply because it is the most accessible and the least scary choice for a novice susceptible to drug addiction. Also, many adolescents think marijuana is not as harmful as other illicit drugs; however marijuana has both short-term and long term health effects.

The short-term effects of marijuana use include memory problems, loss of coordination, anxiety attacks, and increased heart rate. Possible long-term effects of marijuana use include respiratory problems, a weakened immune system, cognitive deficits, chronic psychological problems and some frequent users of marijuana may develop "amotivational" syndrome characterized by chronic fatigue, a lack of motivation, and not caring what happens to them. (NIDA, 2006) Adolescents who use marijuana are also more likely to have lower achievement, more delinquent behavior and aggression, and weaker relationships with parents than non-users.

THC (the active ingredient in marijuana) also affects hormonal systems and can impair sexual and reproductive functions. In males it may delay the onset of puberty and lower the sperm count. In women, it can disrupt the menstrual cycle and inhibit ovulation. (NIDA,2006)

The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), a system for monitoring the health impact of drugs, estimated that in 2002 marijuana was a contributing factor in over 119,000 emergency department visits with about fifteen percent of the patients being between ages of twelve and seventeen.

Another risk of using marijuana is that it places adolescents at a higher risk for using more dangerous drugs.

Many studies have documented a link between smoking marijuana and later use of "harder" drugs such as heroine and cocaine, but this does not mean that marijuana causes addiction to harder drugs.

Furthermore, the environment in which today's adolescents are using drugs is dangerous, and adolescents today deal with life risk and choices that youth and teenagers did not have to cope with in previous decades. Thus, having impaired judgment and awareness is simply more risky now than it used to be.

Adolescents start using marijuana for many reasons. Curiosity and the desire to fit into a social group are common reasons. Certainly, adolescents who have already begun to smoke cigarettes and/or use alcohol are at high risk for marijuana use. Adolescents who become more heavily involved with marijuana can become dependent, and this is their prime reason for using the drug.

Also, research suggests that the use of alcohol and drugs by other family members plays a strong role in whether children start using drugs. Parents, grandparents, and older brothers and sisters in the home are models for adolescents to follow.

Some adolescents who take drugs do not get along with their parents. Some have a network of friends who use drugs and urge them to do the same (peer pressure). All aspects of a child's environment Ð'- home, school and neighborhood help to determine whether the adolescent will try drugs.

Researchers have found that children and teens (both male and female) that are physically and sexually abused are at greater risk than other young people of using marijuana and other drugs and of beginning drug use at an early age.

Another factor that may influence the use of marijuana is socio-economical status, as measured by parents' educational level. This factor influences the age at which drug use is initiated, but does not have an effect on the overall levels of use.

There is little information regarding the use of marijuana in the ten to thirteen years of age group. Most of the research that has been done starts at age twelve and above. However there is data indicating that the use of marijuana can start as early as eight years old. Most children in this group use marijuana mostly to experiment, out of curiosity or because of peer pressure.

Marijuana was the most widely used drug among the ten to thirteen year old age group. Most of the children were not aware of the short and long term health effects of using marijuana in accordance with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA,2006).

From ages twelve to thirteen the proportion of adolescents who said they could buy marijuana if they wanted too was fifty percent and the odds of becoming a new marijuana user increased with age. Males were an estimated 1.5 times more likely than females to start using marijuana.

In 1999 initiations of using marijuana at less than twelve years old were two percent, twelve years old five percent and thirteen years old ten percent in accordance with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SMAHSA, 1999). Lifetime use of marijuana ages twelve through seventeen years of age was seventeen percent in 2001. (SMAHSA,2001)

The Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse noted that blacks and Hispanics reported marijuana as their primary drug. Black adolescents had greater odds of initiation than white, but there were no significant differences between blacks and Hispanics. (SMAHSA, 1999)

Problems associated with marijuana use were greatest among adolescents groups. Nearly seventy-five percent of adolescents who used marijuana for twelve or more days in 2000 experienced significant problems