CHAPTER Outline
Fernando’s Story
1. 15 year old Latino takes drugs, skips school, and jumped out of father’s car during argument
2. Fernando’s father works overtime, drinks, and introduced son to alcohol and drugs.
3. Fernando’s mother died in car accident three years earlier.
4. Fernando hazed due to speech defect and limp.
5. As a result of one of many police contacts, Fernando ordered by juvenile court
to complete community service and individual counseling and is assessed for AOD [Alcohol and Other Drugs].
6. Counseling helps him deal with loss of mother and other issues. AOD use and delinquent activity reduced, but not eliminated
I. Introduction
A. Survey data
1. more than half of all high school–age kids have used drugs
2. teen drug use is down from 5 and 10 years ago
3. CASA study suggests that parents play an important role
B. Vexing problem
1. every city and town experiences adolescent drug use
2. cross national studies indicate illicit drug use
3. association between drug use and crime is troubling
II. Frequently Abused Drugs
A. Marijuana and hashish
1. commonly called pot or grass
2. produced from the leaves of Cannabis sativa
3. hash is a concentrated form of cannabis
a. made from unadulterated resin from the female plant
4. main active ingredient in both is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
5. causes distortions in auditory and visual perception
a. related to decreased activity
b. overestimation of time and space
c. increased food consumption
6. marijuana is not physically addicting
B. Cocaine
1. cocaine is an alkaloid derivative of the coca plant
2. considered a medicinal
3. controlled by the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906
4. cocaine is the most powerful natural stimulant
5. produces euphoria, restlessness, and excitement
6. crack is processed street cocaine
C. Heroin
1. taken to desensitize from pain and free the mind of anxiety and
emotion
2. users become drowsy and may nod off
3. street heroin is often only 1 to 4 percent pure
4. probably the most dangerous commonly abused drug
D. Alcohol
1. remains the drug of choice for most teenagers
2. almost 70% of high school seniors reported using alcohol in the past
year
3. may be a factor in nearly half of all murders, suicides, and
accidental deaths
4. over 1.4 million drivers are arrested each year for DUI
5. long-term use has been linked with depression and physical
ailments
E. Anesthetic drugs
1. are central nervous system (CNS) depressants
2. most widely abused anesthetic drug is phencyclidine (PCP)
3. effects of PCP can last up to two days
F. Sedatives and barbiturates
1. depress the central nervous system into a sleeplike condition
2. sedatives can be prescribed by doctors as sleeping pills
G. Tranquilizers
1. reduce anxiety and promote relaxation
2. used to combat anxiety, tension, fast heart rate, and headaches
H. Hallucinogens
1. produce vivid distortions of the senses
2. some produce hallucinations, and others cause psychotic behavior
3. one common hallucinogen is mescaline
4. mescaline produces vivid hallucinations and out-of-body
sensations
5. second group of hallucinogens are synthetic alkaloid compounds
a. can be transformed into lysergic acid diethylamide
b. commonly called LSD
c. produces visual hallucinations and increased sensitivity
I. Stimulants
1. synthetic drugs that stimulate action in the central nervous system
2. methedrine is probably the most widely used and most dangerous
amphetamine
J. Steroids
1. use steroids to gain muscle bulk and strength
2. health problems associated with their long-term use
3. steroid users often share needles
4.puts them at high risk for contracting HIV
K. Designer Drugs
1. lab-created synthetics
2. designed at least temporarily to get around existing drug laws
3. most widely used designer drug is Ecstasy
4. derived from speed and methamphetamine
5. drug can also increase blood pressure and heart rate
L. Cigarettes
1. about 25 countries prohibit the sale of cigarettes to minors
2. states are required to reduce rates of illegal sales to minors
3. 6 out of 10 high school seniors in America report having smoked
III. Drug Use Today
A. Surveys
1. show that marijuana continues to be the most widely used drug
2. synthetic drugs such as Ecstasy have become more popular
3. synthetics are cheap and produce a powerful, long-lasting high
4. crack cocaine use has been in decline in recent years
a. heavy criminal penalties
b. tight enforcement
c. social disapproval have helped to lower crack use
5. most persistent teenage substance-abuse problem is alcohol
6. well established that alcoholism runs in families
B. Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey
1. annual MTF survey conducted by the ISR
2. 45,000 students located in 433 secondary schools participate in the
survey
3. drug use among American adolescents held steady in 2005
4. declined from the recent peak levels reached in 1996 and 1997
5. in 2005, 2.6 percent of tenth-graders reported use of
Ecstasy
6. significant drop in the use of alcohol by the youngest kids in the survey
nearly one-fifth of eighth-graders and almost half of twelfth-graders use
alcohol-a 19 percent drop in annual rates in the last five years (from 41.9
percent in 2001 to 33.9 percent in 2005) and a 27 percent drop in the last
ten years (from 46.5 percent in 1996).
C. PRIDE survey
1. National Parents’ Resource Institute for Drug Education (PRIDE)
survey
2. findings from the PRIDE survey correlate highly with the MTF
drug survey
3. most recent data (2004-2005 school year) indicates little to no change
over the previous school year, but a substantial decrease over the last ten
years
D. Are the survey results accurate?
1. drug surveys must be interpreted with caution
2. overly optimistic to expect heavy drug user cooperation
3. students are likely to be absent from school during testing periods
4. drug abusers are more likely to be absent
5. most drug-dependent portion is omitted from the sample
6. problems are consistent over time
a. measurement of change or trends in drug usage
b. validity of these surveys may be questioned
c. probably reliable indicators of trends in substance abuse
IV. Why Do Youths Take Drugs?
A. Social disorganization
1. ties drug abuse to poverty, social disorganization, and hopelessness
2. tied to the stress of living in a harsh urban environment
3. data on class and crime is inconclusive
drug use is higher among urban youths
5. many drug-dealing youths had legitimate jobs at the time they were
arrested
B. Peer pressure
1. adolescent drug abuse is highly correlated with the behavior of best
friends
2. friendships with other drug-dependent youths give them social
support
3. association with substance abusers increases the probability of
drug use
4. relationship is reciprocal
a. adolescent substance abusers seek out friends who use
drugs
b. associating with drug abusers leads to increased levels of
drug abuse
5. peer networks are significant influence on long-term substance
abuse
6. youths become enmeshed in drug-use subculture
7. drug users have warm relationships with substance-abusing peers
C. Family factors
1. drug users have a poor family life
2. majority of drug users have had an unhappy childhood
3. common to find substance abusers in large families
4. substance abusers may have parents who are divorced, separated,
or absent
5. drug abuse patterns may also result from observation of parental
drug use
a. a more important cause of drug abuse than other family
problems
b. parental conflict over child-rearing practices
c. failure to set rules
d. unrealistic demands followed by harsh punishments
D. Genetic factors
1. biological children of alcoholics reared by nonalcoholic adoptive
parents
a. more often develop alcohol problems than the natural
children of the adoptive parents
2. comparing alcoholism among identical and fraternal twins
a. degree of concordance is twice as high among the identical
twins
3. future problems can be predicted by behavior as early as six years
of age
E. Emotional problems
1. linked drug use to emotional problems present in any economic
class
2.drugs help youths control or express unconscious needs
3. introverted people may use drugs as an escape from feelings of
inferiority
4. drug abusers are also believed to exhibit psychopathic or
sociopathic behavior
a. addiction-prone personality
5. presence of a significant degree of pathology
6. half of all drug abusers may be diagnosed with antisocial
personality disorder
F. Problem behavior syndrome
1. one of many problem behaviors that begin early in life
a. remain throughout the life course
2. youths who abuse drugs:
a. lack commitment to religious values
b. disdain education
c. spend most of their time in peer activities
G. Problem behaviors and substance abuse
1. one of a constellation of social problems experienced by at-risk
youth
2. drug users more likely to experience an array of social problems
a. physical or sexual abuse associated with illicit drug use
3. substance users are also more likely to have educational problems
a. absent 10 plus days were more likely to report drug use
4. association with substance user and serious behavioral and
emotional problems
H. Rational choice
1. choose to use drugs:
a. want to get high or relax
b. improve their creativity
c. escape reality
d. increase their sexual responsiveness
V. Pathways to Drug Abuse
A. Gateway drugs
1. no single path to becoming a drug abuser
2. most users start at a young age using alcohol as a gateway drug
3. drinking with an adult present was a significant precursor of
substance use
4. little disagreement that serious users begin their involvement with
alcohol
5. though most recreational users do not progress to hard stuff
B. Adolescents who distribute small amounts of drugs
1. do not commit any other serious delinquent acts
2. occasionally sell drugs to support their own drug use
3. customers include friends, relatives, and acquaintances
C. Adolescents who frequently sell drugs
1. small number are high-rate dealers
2. bridge the gap between adult drug distributors and the adolescent
user
3. frequent dealers often have adults who front for them
4. teenagers distribute the drugs to friends and acquaintances
5. frequent dealers are more likely to sell drugs in schools or other
public places
6. chance of apprehension is not significant, nor is the payoff
substantial
7. Venklatest found that the average hourly earnings of drug dealers was between 2.50 to 7.10 an hour [much less than prior researchers]
D. Teenage drug dealers who commit other delinquent acts
1. distributes multiple substances and commits both property and
violent crimes
2. make up about 2 percent of the teenage population
a. commit up to 40 percent of the robberies and assaults
b. 60 percent of all teenage felony thefts and drug sales
c. frequently are hired by older dealers to act as street-level
drug runners
d. supplier receives 50 to 70 percent of the drug’s street value
E. Losers and burnouts
1. commit unplanned crimes that increase their chances of arrest
2. heavy drug use increases their risk of apprehension
a. decreases their value for organized drug distribution
networks
b. not considered trustworthy or deft enough to handle drugs
or money
F. Persistent offenders
1. about 2/3 of substance-abusing youths continue to use drugs in
adulthood
2. about half desist from other criminal activities
3. characteristics of those who persist:
a. they come from poor families
b. family members include other criminals
c. do poorly in school
d. started drugs and delinquency at an early age
e. use multiple types of drugs and commit crimes frequently
f. few opportunities to participate in legitimate adult activities
VI. Drug Use and Delinquency
A. Drug use and delinquency
1. association has been established
2. crime may be an instrument of the drug trade
a. violence erupts when rival gangs
b. use weapons to settle differences and establish territory
c. between 35 and 40% of New York’s homicides are drug
-related
3. drug users may also commit crimes to pay for their habits
a. 573 narcotics users annually committed more than 200,000
crimes
4. drug users may be more willing to take risks
a. inhibitions are lowered by substance abuse
5. ADAM program tracked trends in drug use among arrestees in
urban areas
a. almost 60% of juvenile males and 30% of juvenile females tested positive for marijuana
b. prevalence was ten and six times higher than cocaine use
for juvenile males and females respectively
6. incarcerated youths are more likely to be involved in substance
abuse
B. Drugs and chronic offending
1. is possible that most delinquents are not drug users
a. police are more likely to apprehend muddle-headed
substance abusers
2. many criminals are in fact substance abusers
a. less than 2% of the youths report using cocaine or heroin
b. commit two or more index crimes each year
c. drug-abusers accounted for 40 to 60% of all the index
crimes reported in research by Johnson et al.
d. one-quarter committed crimes solely to support a drug habit
C. Explaining drug use and delinquency
1. association established in a variety of cultures
2. relationship is uncertain whether:
a. drug use causes delinquency
b. delinquency leads youths to engage in substance abuse
c. both drug abuse and delinquency are functions of some
other factor
3. Huizinga and Menard used National Youth Survey data
a. strong association between delinquency and drug use
b. direction of the relationship is unclear
c. drug abuse appears to be a type of delinquent behavior
d. most youths involved in delinquency before drugs
e. youths who abstain from alcohol almost never take drugs
f. marijuana use is a cause of multiple drug use
g. youths who commit felonies started off with minor
delinquent acts
VII. Drug Control Strategies
A. Law enforcement efforts
1. aimed at reducing the supply of drugs and deterring users from
drugs
2. deter the sale of drugs through apprehension of large-volume drug
dealers
3. effort to cut off supplies of drugs by destroying overseas crops
4. crop substitution and alternative development
5. may result in a shift in production to another area or targeted crop
6. efforts directed at interdicting drug supplies as they enter the
country
a. only one-third of all imports are being seized by law
enforcement
b. Operation Webslinger had shut down four Internet drug
rings
c. 115 arrests in 84 cities
d. seized the equivalent of 25 million doses of GBH
7. efforts have been made to bust large-scale drug rings
8. police can intimidate and arrest street-level dealers and users
B. Education strategies
1. another approach relies on educational programs
2. overwhelming majority of public school districts include these components:
a. teaching students about the causes and effects of substances
b. teaching students to resist peer pressure
c. referring students for counseling and treatment
C. Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.)
1. most widely known drug education program
2. an elementary school course designed to give students skills resist
peer pressure
3. employs uniformed police
4. program focuses on five major areas:
a. providing accurate information about tobacco, alcohol, and