Note: All student names in this article have been changed for privacy reasons.
Since ancient times, drug use has been ingrained in our global culture when it comes to socializing. Illegal substances, as common as alcohol and as fatal as fentanyl, have an especially prominent presence with teens. While substance use is incredibly normalized in the media for teenagers, it’s easy to overlook its detrimental impacts when noticing the choices that peers make about drugs.
Relying on substances as a central part of group activities introduces problematic habits that can continue later on in life. The casual presence that drugs have begun to have in social settings has negatively impacted human connection.
Usage is incredibly common during adolescence, with 46.6 percent of all teens reporting that by grade 12 they have used illegal drugs. In many social settings like parties, group gatherings, or even smaller hangouts, substances like alcohol, marijuana and nicotine are often casually present, acting as a bridge for connection at times.
According to National Center for Drug Abuse Stastistics, 36.8 percent of teenagers before 12th grade have tried illicit drugs at least once. The consistent presence of drugs in teen social settings can introduce new anxieties, bringing up a new issue for teens to grapple with — peer pressure.
Quinn, a BHS junior, defined “peer pressure” as “pressure that you feel from your friends or people you look up to to do something that you might not usually do in normal circumstances.” While BHS students receive education and preventative information about aggressive peer pressure in presentations from the student-led Harm Education and Reduction Organization, coercion in social environments often occurs in a much more subtle way that introduces more opportunities for internal stress.
Peer pressure doesn’t only look like direct verbal questioning of someone’s choices. It can also present as a simple look, or even silence. Being in an environment where the majority of the people around you are under the influence can also act as a form of social pressure. “It's not really a stereotypical, like, ‘oh, you have to drink with us. It'll be so much fun’. It's more like you get FOMO,” Riley, a BHS sophomore, said. Making the conscious choice to break away from a collective behaviour can often feel very stressful and provoke anxiety. For teenagers especially, worrying about what peers think of their choices can be very emotionally and mentally taxing. Choosing to follow the majority rather than straying away and choosing another path can simply feel easier than sticking to one’s personal values. “I think it's kind of like the mob mentality where if everyone else is doing it, you kind of feel inclined to do it, and I think it's especially an issue amongst teenagers because (...) you just want to be liked and be normal,” Quinn said.
Alex, a sophomore at BHS, explained that they have learned over time that most people really aren’t focused on the choices of their peers regarding drug use, but it can feel difficult to realize that in the moment. “I think there's a lot of fear of saying no or thinking it's uncool, but actually, nobody really cares … If someone is offering, they don't need a yes,” they said. When substances are involved in hangouts and gatherings, various mental obstacles can change decision making and add more subtle burdens that impact social gatherings.
Some students find that media portrayals and archetypes of teenage life also contribute to creating an overly substance-forward culture. “It's like, ‘oh, yeah, we're teenagers. We should be living our life. We should be drinking or doing drugs’ … I guess a lot of people like that narrative or sticking to it, and then think that other people should stick to it too,” Riley said.
Addictions can also form gradually and subtly for teens, making them seem less alarming. “I think for vapes and nicotine, it's a dependency at this point. People who've been vaping since middle school just rely on it,” Alex said. With chronic use, short-term enjoyment can quickly devolve into detrimental addictions that continue into adulthood. Many addictions are established in adolescence, and continue through later life. According to the CDC, Nearly 9 out of 10 adults who smoke cigarettes daily had started smoking by age 18.
The dangers that come with chronic substance consumption are more amplified when they begin earlier in life. Due to the pace of brain development, the prefrontal cortex, which is the region of the mind that regulates impulse control and decision making, isn’t fully developed until someone’s mid-20s. This means that in an adolescent brain, controlling substance use and avoiding developing addictions can be even more difficult.
Still, the long term effects on health are permanent. The CDC states that over 16 million Americans have a smoking-related disease. Furthermore, excessive alcohol consumption causes around 178,000 deaths in the United States every year.
Having social gatherings that are exclusively centered around substances can normalize habitual usage, rippling out to create an overly drug-forward culture for teens. Substance use comes with many nuances and risks that can be amplified with peer pressure and active growth. An adolescent culture that glorifies chronic drug use is both a danger to mental health and human development.