Causes of Tobacco Use Among Adolescents - Essay Example

? ARTICLE REVIEW of the module of the June 8, Article1: Factors related to tobacco use among teenagers Hedman, Bjerg-Backlund, Perzanowski, Sundberg and Ronmark (2007) have undertaken some remarkable studies on the contributing factors for tobacco use among teenagers in Sweden. The aim of the research is to identify the factors related to tobacco use and evaluate the outcome of smoking prevention programs. Many teenagers experiment with smoking from 10 years onwards and become regular smokers by the age of 15. Similarly, smoking is more prevalent among girls whereas snuff use is more common among adolescent boys in Sweden. Reports show that any tobacco use, cigarettes or smokeless, is “11–20% among boys and 12–18% among girls in Sweden, by the age of 15” (Hedman et al, 2007, p. 497). The authors also observe that most of the smoking intervention programs address the general population whereas there have not been remarkable interventions among the most affected adolescent population. The authors thus argue that it is imperative to resort to targeted interventions so as to reduce tobacco use among the adolescent population. The article is significant as it throws light on the impact of drug-taking behavior among the adolescent population. As discussed by Levinthal (2010) the article also deals with the personal and social concerns of drug-taking behavior among the adolescents and suggests certain recommendations for the prevention of tobacco use among the young children. The methodology consists of a longitudinal study of asthma, rhinitis, eczema, and type-1 allergy among school children in the age category of 7 to 15 in Northern Sweden. The study was administered among 3525 children who enrolled in the first and second class in three towns, Lulea, Pitea and Kiruna in Sweden. As the first step, a parental questionnaire was distributed annually by the teachers from 1996 to 2000 when the children were 7/8 to 11/12 years. The questionnaire consisted of questions related to asthma and the possible risk factors of smoking habits in the family. Later in 2001, when the children were 12/13 years old they were asked to complete the questionnaire themselves and the questions were related to the teenagers’ own tobacco use. A smoking prevention program was offered to the participants during 1999 and 2000. The intervention programs consisted of theatre performances, discussions, educational projects and awareness programs among the participants. The dependant variables of the study consisted of smoking, sniff use and any tobacco use at the age of 14/15. The results of the study throw light on many factors associated with tobacco use. Tobacco use tended to increase when the teenagers reached 14/15 years (14.4%) in comparison with the 5% when they are 12/13 years old. The results of the study also demonstrated that girls were more likely to smoke than boys whereas snuff use was more common among boys. The study showed that a family history of smoking accelerates the likelihood of adolescent children turning to smoking. Smoking among adolescent children increased with the number of smoking family members. The result of the study showed that only 1.8% of the teenagers smoked themselves at age 14/15 years in the absence of smoking family members whereas 33.0% turned to smoking by the age of 14/15 years when there were three or more smoking family members” (Hedman et al, 2007, p. p. 498). The risk factor is greater in such cases where the mother smoked in comparison to the smoking of the father. However, smoking and snuff use was less prevalent among students who regularly participated in sports or similar activities. The study also found that there were no significant differences among the rural and urban population with regard to smoking or snuff use. One of the remarkable findings of the study was that smoking rate was higher among students with physician-diagnosed asthma. The study also pinpointed that the interventions did not have any positive effect on tobacco use among students at age 14/15 as the prevalence of smokers in the intervention group (5.9%) as well as the control group (5.8%) remained almost the same. The findings of the study have a number of implications for future prevention programs in Sweden. There have not been many studies in Sweden that addressed snuff use among teenagers even though there were many studies related to adolescent smoking. While risk-taking behavior, stress, depression, and peer influence have been regarded as potential influences for smoking the study identified smoking habits within the family as the most dominating risk factor for smoking and snuff use among teenagers. As such the article emphasizes the need to offer future prevention programs to the whole family along with the adolescents. It has also been found that asthma does not prevent teenagers from indulging in smoking and therefore it is necessary to provide adequate information to teenagers with asthma on the adverse effects of smoking. Participation in sports has been identified as a protective factor against both smoking and snuff use among teenagers; channelizing vulnerable teenagers towards various sports items may help them to follow a healthier and tobacco free life style. Even though the prevention program in the study was unsuccessful among the target group it emphasized the need to offer such prevention programs earlier when the teenagers were only 10/11 years old. Article 2: Marijuana should be legalized and regulated Paul Armentano, the deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, addresses the issue of legalization and regulation of marijuana in the United States in his article “Marijuana should be legalized and regulated”. The article assumes greater significance in the ongoing debate over whether marijuana should be legalized or not. The author starts his article by observing that the drug war in America has been unsuccessful even though the authorities have spent over $1 trillion dollars for this purpose. He postulates that criminalization of marijuana and its prohibition has not prevented the Americans from using the drug and that the governmental policies on marijuana have not served their purpose. On the other hand, criminalization of marijuana has resulted in the arrest and imprisonment of millions of the nation’s citizens damaging their lives and careers. Armentano points out that marijuana is safer than alcohol or tobacco and for him the only solution to the present crisis is marijuana legalization and regulation rather than its criminalization or prohibition. The author points out that alcohol, tobacco and many prescription pharmaceuticals have greater adverse health impacts than cannabis and therefore he believes that a “pragmatic regulatory framework allowing for the limited legal use of marijuana by adults would best mitigate any risks associated with its use or abuse” (Armentano). Thus he advocates legal restriction and regulation of marijuana rather than its prohibition and for him such a move would restrict marijuana’s availability among the teenagers. He exhorts the readers to understand the reality that even after 70 years of federal prohibition marijuana use is still prevalent among the American citizens. He also observes that licensed business of marijuana can prevent the large amount of illegal criminal enterprises in the marijuana market The author concludes his article by mentioning the growing public support for the legalization of marijuana in the nation. He points out how recent nationwide polls have revealed the public support for replacing the current marijuana prohibition with a new system of legalization and regulation. For instance, the nationwide poll by Rasmussen Reports in May showed that 56 percent of the Americans comprising of citizens from all age groups have opted for its legalization whereas only 34 percent have opposed it (Armentano). Thus, all throughout the article Armentano makes conscious efforts to pinpoint the disadvantages and negative impacts of marijuana prohibition in the nation and calls for the need to regulate marijuana use through its legalization. The article is of great significance as it demands a change in governmental policies towards marijuana use in the nation. The article offers insight into part 2 of Levinthal’s book that deals with the legally restricted drugs in our society. The article shows the need to turn marijuana into a legally restricted drug and in doing so the author also distinguishes between the use and abuse of marijuana as a drug. It also deals with the drug behavior of the Americans and offers a possible solution to the long drug war on marijuana use and abuse. The article clearly shows that prohibition of marijuana in the nation has not prevented people from using the drug. On the other hand, it has caused the flourishing of illegal marijuana markets and many citizens have been arrested or imprisoned over the years. Similarly, the article also takes one to the various benefits and advantages of regulating marijuana use through proper legalization. References Armentano, P. (2012). Marijuana should be legalized and regulated. U.S.News & World Report, , 1. Retrieved from http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/is-it-time-to-scale-back-the-war-on-drugs/marijuana-should-be-legalized-and-regulated Hedman, L., Bjerg-Backlund, A., Perzanowski, M., Sundberg, S., & Ronmark, E. (2007). Factors related to tobacco use among teenagers. Respiratory Medicine, 101(3), 496-502. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rmed.2006.07.001 Levinthal, Charles F. (2010). Drugs, Behavior, and Modern Society. 7th revised ed: Allyn & Bacon. Read More