Drug_Use_Teens

Adolesce is defined as the life stage between childhood and adulthood and is a period often characterized by an amplified capability for behaviours that have potentially dangerous outcomes. Drug use and the misuse of substances have been strongly linked to patterns of risk taking or harmful behaviour within various youth cultures spanning to present day. Ecstasy and various other ‘party drugs’ that have spread in popularity from the mid 1980s onwards from a drug attached to an enclosed subculture to the mainstream, today these drugs are recognized as being the most popular with today’s generation of adolescence. The greatest threat concerning the popularity of such drugs is the dramatic increase of there recreational use within the mainstream, the ‘normalization’ of such drugs represents to some a serious set of risk factors that need to be addressed (Gullotta, 1994, p98). The following will examine the historical context of drugs and how they relate to youth culture including the context in which they are used and role they play in adolescence social lives. Following on the perceptions and strategies of the community, family and governments will be examined both in relation to there motivations and involvement with the problem. In order to understand drugs and possible modes of prevention it is important to understand their context and the cultures that surround them. Defining ecstasy, its use and significance to youth is an ongoing process. Traditionally it is seen to have arisen out of the 1980s UK rave subculture which spread into mainstream popular culture in the 90s and then moving beyond is now acknowledged to be one of the more widespread drugs flourishing in a more ‘normalized’ drug culture. The misuse of drugs has formed a central part of various youth subcultures from post war through to today, Jazz bars, Mods, hippies, punks and other popular youth movements have always engaged with and at times popularized the use of certain drugs that have run hand in hand with their socio-cultural context (Hendry, 1999, p34). What is of particular concern today for authorities is the rise and normalization of drug use around mainstream adolescent culture, particularly as Hunt suggests within a affluent white middle-class demographic, this for authorities Hunt suggests is where a great deal of fear has come from leading to harder and harder measures of intrusion into today’s generation of youths social lives exterior to the home (Hunt, 2010, p78). In this sense modern research has shown that the prevalence of adolescent drug use has been on an upward curve since the late 1970s, focusing during the 1980s on solvent and heroin use. The difference to earlier periods being that such drugs like heroin were generally regarded as a marginal activity linked closely to “urban deprivation and social dislocation, and undertaken by those stereotypically labelled by the media at least as mad, bad or sad” (South, 2000, p17), what we have seen therefore since the 1980s is a significant broadening of the drug using constituency encompassing a much wider range of substances taken by ever larger groups of young people, for a “significant minority who could consider themselves otherwise ‘ordinary’ members of the community, drug taking as become an unremarkable part of the lifestyle kit” (Hirst and McCamely-Finney, 1995, p89). Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA or ecstasy as it is commonly known was developed and marketed in the united states during the mid 1970s as a therapeutic drug, useful because of its capacity to induce empathy and social attachment, it was prescribed to a range of people including couples facing marital problems, however soon after in 1985 it had become a controlled substance, in spite of which by the 1990s had become one of the most popular drugs of choice among the current dance/rave youth culture in various western countries including the united states, Australia and Europe (HIZLER, 2002, p134). Today ecstasy use continues to be widespread and has spread beyond the club and rave scene into other areas of party culture, and from large cities to the suburbs and across middle-class, working-class and low income neighbourhoods (Singer, 2005, p10). The popularity of the drug is related to the properties of the drug which are uniquely suited to today’s youth culture. Useful for enduring long periods of dancing and all night activities, MDMA is said to enhance physical sensations, induce an immediate sense of intimacy and connectedness between people. The drug is appealing in this sense to adolesce who at times feel ill at ease with social settings; who wish to make new friends and acquaintances; or are seeking new sexual partners or experiences. Moreover, ecstasy users view the drug as having a broad based benefit and being low risk (Parker, Aldridge and Measham, 1998, p76). In contrast to this government officials and the medical community see ecstasy as a significant public health problem, due to research demonstrating both short-term and long-term health risks. In more recent studies ecstasy has been linked to hyperthermia, depression and impaired cognitive functioning (Singer, 2005, p67). A variety of risk factors have been associated with ecstasy and other ‘party’ drugs that community and national drug education organizations are attempting to shed light on. Beginning with the simplest question “what is ecstasy”. We know what MDMA is however what exactly is in the pills sold on the street has been open in recent times to much speculation and research. Ecstasy like many other drugs comes in various shapes, colours and amounts. Importantly different batches of ecstasy taken from the street vary drastically in purity, some containing other drug compounds closer to LSD while some contain a range of noxious substances. The reason given for this is that MDMA is an expensive chemical, and sellers often have attempted to pass of cheaper, easier to manufacture. The problem here is not knowing what the person is actually putting into there body as many of the substances found in ecstasy tablets are substances that are more dangerous to the users than MDMA itself (Marlett, 2009, p173). Of further concern are the drug mixing behaviours and attitudes that are widespread around users. The most common other drugs used with ecstasy are marijuana and alcohol other drugs included a range of harder substances that were commonly found and accessible through similar social environments and are blanketed under the ‘club drugs’, ‘party drugs’ umbrella, they included speed, LSD, dust (embalming fluid mixed with additives), GHB, rohypnol, ketamine, a range of prescription drugs including valium and Xanax and other more isolated but ‘enduring’ party drugs such as amyl. A further commonly vocalised concern is the sexual risk factor associated with not only the drug but the setting in which these drugs are consumed. The final major risk factor that separates ecstasy from the more generalized threats of drug use is the sexual threat. Given the nature of the drug and the setting in which the ritualised inducement of the drug takes place away from the gaze of authorities much has been said concerning the threat including the dangers of ill-judgement, unprotected sex, and rape (South, 2000, p87). In dealing with these problems current viewpoints on harm minimization strategies for various drugs within Australia are often polarised between zero tolerance and legalisation (Hamilton, 2004, p124). Debate has ranged over the ineffectiveness of zero tolerance measures such as heavy fines, heavy management of social spaces and clubs, and hard line campaigns focusing on the extreme negative effects of the drugs coupled with the punishments that are attached to being caught. These practices are attacked from a variety of view points from ranging from social and individual liberties points of views to evidence that suggests that it may lead to a more underground and ‘seedier’ setting with lower quality more dangerous drugs available (Ibid, p156). However on the other side of the spectrum an extreme loosening of policy would seem to be inappropriate given the nature of the various significant risks associated with ecstasy and drugs like it. In order to understand and put into place effective harm minimization strategies it is important to understand why ecstasy is so popular and explore current research taken recorded from adolescent perspectives regarding the setting of use, prevalence, experiences, patterns of use, and perceptions of risks. One such study was conducted in 2004 by the institute of community research in California. The majority of the subjects reported hearing positive things about ecstasy from their friends and trying the drug at a range of locations, few relayed negative experiences and said they would try it again, many also said they neither new a dealer or bought from one but obtained the ecstasy through friends. In relation to patterns of use the study the participants varied from one time to over 200 in which low level users were 4-6 times in their lifetime to heavy users over 40 including multiple times a week, weekend or period of time. Participants reported using between half and four pills at a time. In relation to those participants who stopped doing ecstasy or rarely use it they stated that it was expensive and at times hard to find. This was particularly pronounced over low income participants who believed $20 to be an exorbitant amount of money to be spending on a drug. Other prominent reasons for ceasing to use the drug often included boredom of the drug or setting in which the drug was usually taken (club) or, with heavier users a kind of ‘burn out’, in which the earlier sensory appeal of the drug was no longer present and short periods of tiredness and or depression followed weekends of use (Singer, 2006, p55-56) Importantly the study also raised questions concerning the youths perceptions of risk involved in taking ecstasy, despite all the public health and media attention that has been focused on drug use participants did not feel overly concerned about the risks of ecstasy use, some were aware of certain risks such as pill ingredients, drug-mixing and so but many simply stated they attempted to minimize these risks themselves by for instance drinking lots of water in relation to dehydration, most adolescences attitudes seem to come from there own experiences or those of their peer group rather than from sources such as parents, media, school or community. Much of what is represented in the findings above show that consuming ecstasy is primarily a social activity done with friends, with the enjoyment of the drug being associated heavily at times with music. Understanding this and why adolesce are attracted to this drug is fundamental in putting into place harm minimization plans as to fully understand the problem the lives of the users, the meaning behind such behaviours must be contextualised. Representations of ecstasy today range in their portrayal. National drug awareness campaigns have depicted ecstasy as a risky dangerous drug that leads to dehydration, depression and death (sometimes referred to as ecstasy’s three d’s). popular entertainment media portray ecstasy as a fashionable drug linked with alcohol use and excitement. Mass media messages about ecstasy are often mediated by the perceptions and experiences of adolesce themselves (McElrath and McEnvoy, 2002, p205). And finally personal experiences of those adolescents involved in the use of the drugs via social networks or internet. It is argued that most current research represents an imbalance which concentrate on the dangers and ignore the pleasures stating that it is important to understand these pleasures in their context and discover what is valued and pursued by adolesce today. Within the study above participants made judgements about their behaviour gagged on their own experiences and that of there peers, what is argued is that by presenting youth with an view of a the situation that is not all encompassing it is perceived as skewed, in-complete or un true and discarded leaving only themselves to provide a balanced assessment of the behaviour. In relation to authorities and past attempts to control the problem much has been criticised in a number of western countries as legislation has opted to control spaces and movements of young people on an unprecedented level, “under the guise of protecting youth current legislation has arguably ultimately enacted a series of controls and regulations over the activities of young people that have further alienated young people from the mainstream and intruded on important social expressions (Hunt, 2010, p82). The level of fear perhaps prompted by an ever increasing level of white middle class adolescents towards such behaviour has seen authorities at time respond with a variety of responses that are ineffective and counter productive, it is these fears that have lead to a current historical period that may be described as “the most anti-youth period in modern history” (Males, 1999, p45). In this sense we may remark that if ecstasy and the drugs that our youth are engaging with are cause for threat than so to are various hardline policies that alienate adolesce from their communities, parents, schools and teachers. The coalescing of fears about drugs and youth and the subsequent deionization of youth behaviours is a very sensitive area which needs to be understood if the detrimental consequences of policy falling on deaf and resistant ears is to be overcome. Any discourse concerning drug use that takes place within the community or school needs to be balanced, informed and inclusive of the voices of adolescents. Teachers especially should be open to shared discussions on the use of such drugs in which a more complete picture may be grasped. As has been argued such discussions that include rather than exclude adolescent voices would act to provide fertile ground whereby health and community concerns may be more readily taken in by a more receptive youth that are presented with a clearer and more honest assessment of the situation. In conclusion substance abuse is a problematic issue that at times leads to considerable adverse consequences for the community, individual health and well being. However as a community we need to understand adolescent substance use in its appropriate context before we can develop a sound comprehensive approach to substance use that aims to reduce drug related harm among our young people. The role that community, family, schools and teachers play here are of crucial importance as lines of inclusive and balanced communication may take place. Harm minimization which remains the corner stone of the Australian national drug strategic framework need to be inclusive of those voices in which it sets out to regulate. For community, schools, family and teachers acknowledging and putting into context the substance abuse that occurs within the community is an appropriate first step in harm reduction. This then may lead to a clear and balanced discussion about the concerns of the use of such drugs that can be communicated to young people highlighting their potential dangers. Teachers especially should be informed and able to provide messages about drug use recurrently and preferably in varying contexts if any effective on going management of the issue are to exist.