DRUGS AND ALCOHOL BETWEEN TEENAGERS

1. DRUGS AND ALCOHOL BETWEEN TEENAGERS COMMENIUS PROJECT 2013 SLOVENIA Neja Drozg & Nina Zupanič

2. PROBLEM • Experimentation with alcohol and drugs during adolescence is common. Unfortunately, teenagers often don't see the link between their actions today and the consequences tomorrow. • Drug use is associated with a variety of negative consequences, including increased risk of serious drug use later in life, school failure, and poor judgment which may put teens at risk for accidents, violence, unplanned and unsafe sex, and suicide.

3. WHO? Teenagers: • With a family history of substance use disorders, • Who are depressed, • Who have low self-esteem, • Who feel like they don't fit in or are out of the mainstream.

4. WHAT DO THEY USE • Teenagers abuse a variety of drugs, both legal and illegal. • Legally available drugs include alcohol, prescribed medications, inhalants (fumes from glues, aerosols, and solvents) and over-the-counter cough, cold, sleep, and diet medications. • The most commonly used illegal drugs are marijuana (pot), stimulants (cocaine, crack, and speed), LSD, PCP, opiates, heroin, and designer drugs (Ecstasy).

5. WARNING SIGNS OF USE • Physical: Fatigue, repeated health complaints, red and glazed eyes, and a lasting cough. • Emotional: personality change, sudden mood changes, irritability, irresponsible behavior, low self-esteem, poor judgment, depression, and a general lack of interest. • Family: starting arguments, breaking rules, or withdrawing from the family. • School: decreased interest, negative attitude, drop in grades, many absences, truancy, and discipline problems. • Social problems: new friends who are less interested in standard home and school activities, problems with the law, and changes to less conventional styles in dress and music.

6. FACTS ABOUT DRUG USE • More teens die from prescription drugs than heroin/cocaine combined. • More than 60 % of teens said that drugs were sold, usedor kept at their school.  • Young people who drink alcohol are 50 times more likely to use cocaine than teens who never drink.

7. About 64 % of teens surveyed who have abused pain relievers say they got them from friends or relatives. • In 2012, 15 % of high school seniors used prescription drugs. • Around 28 % of teens know a friend or classmate who has used ecstasy.

8. By the 8th grade, 30% of adolescents have consumed alcohol, 15% have smoked cigarettes,and 15 % have used marijuana. • Teens whose parents talk to them regularly about the dangers of drugs are 42 % less likely to use drugs than those whose parents don't. • 6.5 % of high school seniors smoke daily.

9. DRUGS IN SLOVENIA • We are in the middle of reseller ways • People mix drugs:legal and illegal • The most popular drug is Marihuana • We have centers for helping people who are drug-addicted

10. DRUG ABUSE IN SLOVENIA • The 2011 Europeanresearchaboutalcoholand drug abuseamongstudentshasshownthatSlovenestudents are usiingdrogs more oftenthanavarragestudentfromotherEuropeancountries. • . TheSlovenestudentsespeciallystandoutwhen it comes to inhalationofvapors, 16 % ofstudentshave used vapors in order to getsedated.

11. Theavarage age when a persontriesdrugsforthefirst time is 16. • 40 % of men and 22 % ofwomenaged 18 to 34 havetriedillegaldrugs. Slovenia is abovetheavarage age in EU ( 31 % peopleaged 15 to 34 years).