A research paper showed that teenagers who smoke are five times more likely to drink and 13 times more likely to use marijuana than those who do not smoke.
The report by Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse presented further evidence linking youth smoking to other substance abuse and spotlighted research on how nicotine affects the adolescent brain.Teenage smoking is not only linked to alcohol or dugs but also may be a cause of mental illness like depression and anxiety.
Smokers ages 12 to 17 are more likely drink alcohol than nonsmokers -- 59 percent compared to 11 percent, the report found. Those who become regular smokers by age 12 are more than three times more likely to report binge drinking than those who never smoked -- 31 percent compared to 9 percent.
Marijuana is the most used drugs among the teenagers,most of whom are smokers.
The report cited scientific studies showing the nicotine in tobacco products can produce structural and chemical changes in the developing brain that make young people vulnerable to alcohol and other drug addiction and mental illness.
Parents and teachers should spread the evil effect of smoking among the teenagers and should keep a constant vigil on their bad company.
3 comments:
That article was a little upsetting; I was not aware that underage smoking caused so many adverse affects in teens and was the gateway for so many other issues that teens are faced with. I defiantly support that we should take more of a stance in spreading that smoking is the gateway to other addictions. I used to suffer from addiction I never realized that smoking may of really been the cause of the issues I faced as a teen, I didn't really get that far into it because I was surrounded by people who did pay close attention to what I was doing and lead me to the following site (insightpros.com) which helped me to look at myself and stop all of the unhealthy things that I was doing to my body.
It's a shame that with all the education people have received about the harmful effects of smoking that young people continue to get addicted to this habit.
Teens who engage in high risk behaviors involving drugs have significantly higher odds of depression suicidal thoughts and suicidal attempts than teens who say no to drugs.
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Annie
Alcohol Treatment
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