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Why am I not surprised? Teens who abuse drugs don’t stop as adults

Posted on April 5, 2022 by Devon Herrick

Once teenage drug users reach adulthood are they safely past the likelihood of future drug abuse? No, not according to research. A study followed 5,300 teens all the way to age 50. Drug use habits were assessed at the beginning of the study. Participants were randomly surveyed every few years. Those with either mild or severe drug use as teenagers were likely to carry those behaviors into adulthood (54% and 60% respectively). The more severe the drug uses as a teen, the more likely they were to abuse prescription medications as adults. More than half of the adults surveyed who were prescribed opioids, sedatives or tranquilizers as adults had drug problems as teens, potentially raising the likelihood of abuse as adults.

Study: Teens Who Misuse Drugs Rarely Shake the Issue as Adults

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For many years, our health care blog was the only free enterprise health policy blog on the internet. Then, when the NCPA closed its doors, the health blog stopped as well.

During this five-year hiatus no one else has come forward to claim the space. So, my colleagues and I have decided to restart the blog in connection with the Goodman Institute. We invite you and others to use this forum to share your views.

John C. Goodman,

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