The Effects of Mind-Altering Drugs on Juvenile Recidivism - Research Paper Example

Based on studies prepared years before the new millennium, Flowers (2002) concluded that the use and abuse of drugs, among other substances, have been robustly related to juvenile delinquency and criminality. Conditions have not improved much since then. Bartol and Bartol (2008) reported that juveniles made up 17 % of the arrests made in 2005. Mocan and Tekin (2005) established that the use of drugs wielded a profound influence on one’s predilection to commit the crime. Indeed, from LSD to OxyContin to ecstasy, drugs have figured significantly as triggers to commit crime from the late 60s until the present time.

Called by its own inventor, Albert Hoffman “my problem child”, lysergic acid diethylamide or LSD has itself spawned real-life problem children or juveniles since 1938 when it was first synthesized (Carey, 2008; Berger, 2005a). Psychedelic or psychoactive drugs, like LSD, are among the purported mind-altering drugs. Drugs classified as psychedelic or psychoactive consist of a concoction of chemicals not necessarily taken to improve health but known to have the effect of changing the user’s thoughts, reactions and perceptions of bodily sensations (Berger, 2005b; Drug-Free America, 2004).

Mind altering substances in the same category as LSD is heroin or diamorphine, which is a powerful analgesic; cocaine, a highly abused narcotic anesthetic; and the psychoactive cannabis resin or oil from the hemp plant and its flower-bearing stem or tops known as marijuana (“Heroin”, 2005; Berger, 2005c; Jenkins, 2005). Other mind-altering drugs include, but are not limited to OxyContin tablets, a licit narcotic drug used for pain management; dextroamphetamine, a drug which is fast gaining notoriety as a “recreational drug” but is medically prescribed for sleep disorders or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; and methamphetamine, which is a stimulant and a “feel good” drug usually smoked, swallowed or injected.