Doors of Perception Adolescents are more likely to become addicted when they perceive easy access to substances
A dolescent perceptions of access to drugs and alcohol is a major factor in the youth substance abuse epidemic in the U.S., according to recent studies. This means that when adolescents believe they have easy access to certain kinds of substances, they’re more likely to use them. In a 2012 survey, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration agency found that 47.7 percent of adolescents perceived marijuana to be fairly or very easy to obtain, 25.5 percent perceived ease of access to cocaine, 15.8 percent to heroin and 14.6 percent to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD).
Perception matters A 2014 study by Mercer University and Georgia Southern University found a direct link between adolescent perceptions of how easy it is to obtain drugs and alcohol, and subsequent rates of addiction. “The ease of access to tobacco, alcohol, and certain illicit drugs has been recognized as one of the main underlying causes of the current substance-use epidemic among U.S. youth, with adolescents’ perceptions of the ease of access to alcohol, tobacco, and drugs being shown to significantly increase their risk for use,” say the study’s
authors. “Most troubling were the high levels of perceived access to substances, particularly among high school students . . . more than half of students reported having at least somewhat easy access to marijuana. More than 60 percent of both rural and urban high school students reported easy access to alcohol.” As they get older, there’s a clear increase in adolescents’ perception of how easy it is to obtain substances, according to 2009 University of Michigan findings. By 12th grade, 91 perecent perceived easy access to alcohol,
The ease of access to tobacco, alcohol, and certain illicit drugs has been recognized as one of the main underlying causes of the current, substance-use epidemic among U.S. youth. -Columbia University reseachers
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