Substance Abuse Among Young People in Australia

Running head: SUBSTANCE MISUSE 1
Substance Abuse Among young people in Australia
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Running head: SUBSTANCE MISUSE 2
Introduction
Substance abuse is described as the use of drugs whereby the consumer uses the drugs in
amount or in a manner that may cause harm to his/her body health which may lead to certain
disorders related substance misuse. It can be also described as the consumption of hazardous
psychoactive substances such as illicit drugs and alcohol. This essay is going to discuss how
substance misuse and addiction affect youths in Australia. In this essay, there will be a further
elaboration of social determinants of health on drug use among the youths. The assay also entails
the policy which addresses the effect of substance abuse among youths. There are several
potential stakeholders involved in the policy to address the social determinant of drug use among
youths so that to minimize the risk of these wrong usage of illicit drugs cause to the youth’s
health. Some of the common drugs used by youths are cannabis, heroin, tobacco, cigarettes, and
alcohol.
Description of Substance misuse among youths
In Australia, the persons aged between 14 to 24 years are the most vulnerable population
that is prone to misuse of substances. Some of the factors that contribute to the youths engaging
themselves to illicit drugs include peer pressure, experimental trials on the substance abuse,
popular cultural practice, poor cultural backgrounds and lack of knowledge about the effects of
drug abuse on their health (Silins et al, 2015). The large usage of tobacco, alcohol other
psychoactive substances among the youths in Australia lead to several illnesses and some of the
preventable diseases. Many young people in Australia are prone to severe or permanent damage
due to the use of illicit drugs because their bodies and brains are in the development process.
When one starts using harmful substances with no doctor’s prescription or use of illegal drugs or
substances that affect their body health, they may become addicted. Addiction is a severe case in

Running head: SUBSTANCE MISUSE 3
the misuse of substances in that; once one becomes addicted he/she reaches a stage where it is
difficult to stop (Silins et al, 2015).
Among youths, addiction results in unethical behaviors and may lead to obstruction of
someone’s plans. Substance abuse imposes a lot of negative impacts on youths such that they are
unable to think about themselves, their future and if right based approaches are not developed by
the governments, parents and other involved stakeholders to curb the behaviors, the issue may
affect the whole generation. This may lead to a greater loss in the community because young
people are the backbone of every community or society. Most youths in Australia have become
addicted to almost all kinds illicit drugs such as marijuana, heroin, alcohol, cocaine, crack,
tobacco and several others which have created fear among the parents, community and even the
governments (Chan, Kelly, Carroll & Williams, 2017). The addicted youths spend every
financial income on drugs, and this leads them to look for other means to acquire money for their
drugs exposing them to criminal activities. Some of the common signs and symptoms of a person
who engages in substance abuse include; poor coordination problems, anxiety, chills and
sweating, nausea and insomnia, frequent headache, behavior changes, and depression.
The extent of substance misuse among youths in Australia
Around 43% of young persons in aged between 14 to 24 years have ever used illicit drugs
during their lifetime according to National Household Survey on Drug Strategy (NHSDS) in
2016 (Indig, Frewen & Moore, 2016). The health of young people, mostly those at the adolescent
age are likely to be affected by substance abuse because their body organs are still developing
and this makes the most vulnerable population (Kelly et al, 2015). There are noticed poorer
health outcomes from the people who inject drugs directly into their bodies than the other drug
users. The availability and the extent of alcohol and other substance abuse among young youths

Running head: SUBSTANCE MISUSE 4
vary according to the data source. In certain research findings, it showed that the rate of alcohol
consumption in 2016 from 1995 increased from16.1 to 14.8 while the rate of initiation for
tobacco smoking increased from 14.2 to 16.3 in Australia (Degenhardt, Stockings, Patton, Hall &
Lynskey, 2016). From the year 2001 to 2016 there was a decrease in the rate of young adults
who have ever used illicit drugs, the proportional ranging from 37.1% in 2001 to 28.2% in the
year 2016. In the year 2016, 15.3% of young person’s who were aged 18 to 24 years use more
than one standards of alcohol drinks within one occasion. According to the NHSDS, their was a
daily reduction of smoker among the youths of the age between 18 to 24. The years between
2013 to 2016, the initiation age of smoking increased from 15 to 16 years and mostly it was on
males. Female smokers who could smoke a full cigarette for the first time commenced at a
younger age as compared to males (Frauger et al, 2016).
How substance abuse affects young people
There are several negative effects of substance misuse among youths in Australia. The
use of illicit drugs affects the person’s health both physically, psychologically, socially and
emotionally. Some of the impacts of substance abuse on the health and wellbeing of the
Australian youths are discussed below.
Social effects
As one become addicted to substance abuse, he/she shows several changes in behavior in
his/her life. Drug misuse alters a person’s moods, influences social relations with friends, family
members, and even the community. Youths who become addicted to drug abuse have low
concentrations on the particular recreation or other youth activities in the community. A drug
user in most cases he/she loses contact with other people around him/her due to continuous use