Friday, November 20, 2009

Importance of Youth Drug Testing at High Schools

The problem of drug abuse among the young Americans is widespread and is a major concern for the nation. According to Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey conducted during 2008, nearly 47% of the teens tried an illicit drug by the time they finish their high school. As drug abuse is widespread and the students are more vulnerable, many schools adopt drug-testing programs to deter drug abuse, to identify student drug abusers and to refer them for treatment if necessary.

Vulnerable to abuse

Young people are more vulnerable to drug abuse as they are in their adolescence and not completely matured. They get attracted to the word of supposed benefits rather than understanding the adverse consequences.

Apart from the age, many other factors make particularly youngsters vulnerable. Youngsters are often vulnerable to drugs, specifically young offenders, youngsters in institutional care, students with social or academic problems, and young people who live in disadvantaged families or neighborhoods where multiple risk factors and problems are concentrated.

Commonly abused drugs and testing

According to Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey 2008, the commonly abused drugs are Cigarettes, Alcohol and Marijuana.

MTF states that, nearly 45 percent of the young Americans have tried cigarettes by the end of their high school and one out of five 12th graders were current smokers in 2008. These statistics show the intensity of illicit tobacco abuse by teenagers. Tobacco/cigarette abuse can be detected in urine for 2 to 4 days using cotinine test.

Alcohol abuse is extremely widespread among American teenagers. According to MTF, nearly three quarters i.e. 72 percent of the students consumed alcohol by the end of 12th grade in 2008. Alcohol abusers can be detected using a breath sample with commonly adopted instruments called alcohol breathalyzers.

Marijuana has been widely abused illicit drug by the teens from many years. According to MTF 2008, 42.6 percent of American youth tried Marijuana by the end of their high schooling. Marijuana abuse can be detected within 3 to 5 days and sometimes up to 30 days depending on the amount abused, in urine.

Prevention and treatment

Early intervention by the school authorities is one of the best ways to prevent the spread of drug abuse by the youth. Drug abuse by the students can be prevented by awareness and using drug testing methods which act as deterrents. There are many drug testing methods that schools can choose from, such as urine drug testing, hair drug testing, oral fluid drug testing and blood testing. The drug abusers can be counseled or referred for treatment. The type of treatment required depends on the type and level of the addiction.

As a school administrator or a responsible parent, one should ensure that drug abuse does not become a major concern among the health and safety of the youngsters. Therefore, focus on reducing drug abuse by using suitable methods results positively on the future of the nation.

Rapiddrugdetection.com is an online store offering drug tests and drug screening products in several formats including blood, urine and oral drug test kit. Rapiddrugdetection.com offers FDA-approved urine drug test as well as DOT-approved alcohol testing products. Some of the popular products are marijuana drug testing, breathalyzer , employee drug tests kits, and alcohol tester.

source

No comments:

Post a Comment