Drug Overdose among Adolescents

Drug Overdose Among Adolescents
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Drug Overdose Among Adolescents
Drug overdose deaths are a significant public health issue in America. Notably, the overdose opioids and other drugs have increased dramatically since 1999. The Opioid group is a class of drugs that includes synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and heroin. This report will focus on ways to improve the caring of adolescent drug users aged from fifteen to nineteen years. According to research, deaths related to drug overdose among adolescents elevated sharply between the years 1999 and 2007 (Curtin, Tejada-Vera, & Warner 2017). Later, between the years 2007 and 2014, there was a drop of about 26% followed by a significant increase in 2015. About 80% were unintentional, 14% were suicide, 5% were undetermined and less than 1% were homicide cases. Drug overdose deaths that involved opioid among adolescents increased by almost triple the number from 1999 to 2007. It stabilized between 2007 and 2011 but then declined between 2012 and 2014, and later increased between 2014 and 2015 (Curtin, Tejada-Vera, & Warner 2017).
In America, drug overdose is a significant public health issue. The rapidly increasing deaths among adolescents of the age of fifteen and nineteen years due to a drug overdose is one of the critical challenges in public health (Curtin, Tejada-Vera, & Warner 2017). As such, any national overdose strategy formulated needs to concentrate more on children and adolescents. For the approach to be successful, it must prevent teens from starting problematic opioid use and expand access to evidence-based treatment for teens.

Intervening at an early stage when the signs of addiction are visible can help avert a lifetime of addiction. Additionally, there is a notable deficit of paediatricians who are mainly trained to deal with this type of addiction. A limited supply of treatment facilities for addiction and inadequate insurance coverage has also increased the severity of the problem. Therefore, expanding access and reducing barriers to addiction care for adolescents should be made a priority to prevent the problem in future.
References
Curtin, S. C., Tejada-Vera, B., & Warner, M. (2017). Drug overdose deaths among adolescentsaged 15-19 in the United States: 1999–2015. Drug Overdose Deaths amongAdolescents Aged 15–19 in the United States: 1999–2015. Retrieved fromhttps://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db282.htm.