Key Concepts
Vocabulary: drug-free school zones, drug watches, rehabilitation
Living Drug-Free
Resisting Pressure to Use Drugs
Main Idea: Most teens never experiment with illegal drugs.
By deciding not to use drugs, you protect your health, and become a role model to others. Peer pressure can be intense during the teen years. When the subject of drug use comes up, you may be told that “everybody’s doing it.” This claim is not true. Most teens never experiment with illegal drugs. Almost 62 percent of high school students have never tried marijuana, and more than 90 percent have never tried cocaine.
Committing to Be Drug-Free
It is sometimes difficult to make decisions quickly. You may not have time to consider all of the consequences until after a dangerous situation has passed. You may feel unsure after a dangerous situation has passed. You may feel unsure about saying no to drug use. If your friends put pressure on you to use drugs, you may need to decide whether you want to continue to remain friends with someone who uses drugs.
To commit to remaining drug-free, choose friends who share your attitude about drug use, and avoid places where drugs may be available.
Even a teen who has used drugs in the past can choose not to use drugs in the future. Refusal skills can help you say no to drugs. Thinking of and practicing refusal statements ahead of time will help you feel comfortable using them. Examples of refusal statements include:
“No thanks. I don’t do drugs.”
“I can’t. I’m on medication.”
“I’m not interested. That stuff makes me sick.”
“No. I have to be in great shape for tomorrow’s game.”
Healthy Alternatives
Choosing friends who value a drug-free lifestyle and participating in activities that do not involve drugs can help you avoid drug use. It can also help to build self-esteem, provide role models, reinforce values, and help you make new friends. The following activities are just a few healthy alternatives to drug use.
Hobbies. Enjoy hobbies such as photography, cooking, art, or music.
Sports. Get physical activity through outdoor recreation, team, and individual sports.
Community Activities. Participate in neighborhood events, political movements, community service, religious activities, and local clubs.
School organizations. Get involved in service groups, honor societies, and advocacy groups at school.
Drug Prevention Efforts
Main Idea: Schools and communities are working together to support students in their efforts to be drug-free.
Everyone can help reduce substance abuse by committing to remain drug-free. Schools and communities also provide ways to help young people avoid drugs.
School Efforts
Near schools, drug-free school zones, areas within 1,000 to 1,500 feet of schools and designated by signs, within which people caught selling drugs receive especially severe penalties, have been established. Penalties are often double what they might be for the same drug offense committed elsewhere. Other efforts at schools to eliminate drug use include drug education classes, zero-tolerance policies, and the expulsion of students found using drugs. Some schools conduct locker searches and maintain police patrol on campus.
Community Efforts
Communities across the nation are taking action to prevent drug abuse. Drug watches are organized community efforts by neighborhood residents to patrol, monitor, report, and otherwise try to stop drug deals and drug abuse. Anti-drug programs in your community can help protect your family and friends from drug abuse.
Becoming Drug-Free
Main Idea: Many types of counseling are available for those who want to become drug-free.
Once someone begins using drugs, addiction can occur rapidly. Figure 22.15 lists some warning signs of drug abuse. The following steps can guide you in helping a friend of family member.
Getting Help
Drug abuse is a treatable condition. Rehabilitation is the process of medical and psychological treatment for physiological or psychological dependence on a drug or alcohol. Most drug users need the help of family, friends, and counseling to end their addiction.
Drug treatment centers offer a safe place to withdraw from drug use. Many of these centers provide medications to help with the physical and psychological effects of withdrawal. Types of drug treatment centers include:
Outpatient drug-free treatment. These programs usually do not include medications and often use individual or group counseling.
Short-term treatment. These centers can include residential therapy, medication therapy, and outpatient therapy.
Maintenance therapy. Intended for heroin addicts, this treatment usually includes medication therapy.
Therapeutic communities. These are residences for drug abusers. The centers include highly structured programs that may last from six to 12 months.
Drug counselors can also help people adjust to a life without drugs. Some counselors use behavioral change strategies to help a person become drug-free. These strategies include avoiding the people who supply or do the drug, recalling negative consequences of doing the drug, practicing refusal skills, and filling free time with planned, healthy activities.
Former drug users may also attend support groups. These meetings are gatherings of people who share a common problem. Support groups provide the long-term support that the recovering user needs to remain drug-free, in addition to family support.
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