In recent years, the landscape of adolescent drug abuse has drastically changed, and the results are alarming.
While overall teen drug use has declined per some reports, the surge in overdose deaths overall for teens has continued to grow considerably in America.
“Adolescent drug overdose issues have been multiplying in recent years as a result of various amalgamating factors that worsened the predicament,” Steve Carlton, Chief Clinical Officer at Porch Light Health, told The Dallas Express.
“Among the key elements is the ever-growing availability of extremely addictive substances, most notable of which are methamphetamines and counterfeit pills with fentanyl,” explained Carlton.
In many cases, drugs are being sold by online sources more than in public, making them more reachable than ever before to younger demographics. Previously, “dark” websites like The Silk Road garnered national attention, not only for their political impact but simply for the fact that the world was forced to adjust to online drug retailers and their availability to the next generation.
Experts are also now finally acknowledging in this modern digital age that traditional anti-drug campaigns like “Just Say No” and the D.A.R.E. program have failed to make a lasting impact on kids’ choices. With nowhere else to go and to curb the rising number of overdoses, psychologists and researchers are now taking a new, almost “holistic” approach to addressing the issue, as detailed in a 2024 report from the American Psychological Association.
In the early 1990s, the D.A.R.E. program was implemented across schools hoping to educate children about the dangers of drug use. However, studies soon showed that it had little effect on preventing teen drug use whatsoever. One meta-analysis from the APA found that kids who participated in D.A.R.E. were actually more likely to use drugs than their peers.
Today’s teen drug abuse is drastically different than in past generations, largely due to the cornucopia and availability of highly dangerous different types of drugs exposed to kids at younger and younger ages.
While traditional drugs like alcohol and cocaine are still popular among teens and college-aged demographics, opioids and synthetic substances, particularly fentanyl, have now stepped into the picture, claiming their place in a scary spotlight of overdoses across the country. This spotlight has been strengthened by internet drug markets and the booming use of social media by teens to buy and sell drugs.
Fentanyl, in particular, has taken off like a rocketship amongst adolescent drug users.
Sadly, many do not even know they are consuming the drug, as it is often masked on the streets or pressed into pills with different labels. With the rise in fentanyl use, especially unbeknownst to many teen users with low tolerances, overdoses have not slowed down.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) forecasted a record number of drug-related deaths for 2023, with an estimated 112,323 fatalities in the year ending June 2023. Nearly 70% of these deaths are attributed to fentanyl alone.
In 2022, about one-third of high school seniors reported illicit drugs in the past year, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). While this figure is somewhat down from pre-COVID levels, the increase in overdose deaths is staggering, scary, and growing daily.
A single fentanyl-laced pill can kill instantly, and the influx of laced fentanyl pills over the past few years alone has reached a terrifying apex.
Earlier this year, Gov. Greg Abbott announced that the state’s “One Pill Kills” campaign has reached 1.5 billion impressions since its September 2023 launch, far surpassing expectations. This milestone coincides with Abbott’s past declaration of October 2024 as “Fentanyl Poisoning Awareness Month,” which also aims to raise awareness about the fentanyl crisis.
The campaign’s success in fighting fentanyl is attributed to a strategic blend of social media ads, billboards, and podcasts. Ironically, some of the same attributing factors are catalysts for the spread of teen overdoses in 2024.
“Social issues coupled with the lack of mental well-being of adolescents as well as bullying, family problems alongside other factors can be a lot for teenagers to cope. To some adolescents, the use of drugs can resolve overwhelming emotions and feelings, especially if good help isn’t available … All of these issues combined show that there is an immediate necessity for concern, solutions, and treatment of this issue to avoid worsening the cycle,” Carlton told DX.