"This nonfiction book for teen readers is a guide to understanding mental health and coping with mental illness, trauma and recovery. It features real-life stories of resilient teens and highlights innovative approaches to mental-health challenges."-- Mental health is a complex issue. It affects everything that we do, but can be hard to talk about. Siebert shines a light on the troubled history of thinking about and treating mental illness. She tells...

State governments are relaxing laws about marijuana use for both recreational and medicinal purposes. But just how harmless is this popular drug? This informative volume explores the effects, dangers, and possible benefits of marijuana. Despite what many believe, users can become addicted to marijuana. When young people ingest marijuana, it may negatively affect the way their brain develops. However, marijuana also helps patients with cancer, AIDS,

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Many teens experiment with alcohol and drugs, but experimenting can quickly turn into addiction for some. With so many celebrities checking in and out of rehab, it may seem like addiction is no big deal, maybe even glamorous. However, it is a very real problem: According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 3 percent of young adults are dependent on alcohol, while 11 percent are dependent on illicit drugs. This useful resource teaches

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In some countries and U.S. states, recreational and/or medical marijuana has been legalized, although it is still illegal for children to use it (except for physician-recommended medical purposes). Marijuana has serious effects on the human brain and body, and it's important for teens to know what the side effects are and how marijuana will affect them if they choose to use at as adults. Marijuana's Harmful Effects on Youth provides information on...

Venturing into uncharted territory, mother and award-winning journalist Meredith Maran takes us inside teenagers' hearts, minds, and central nervous systems to explore the causes and consequences of our nation's drug crisis. In these pages we get to know the kids, the parents, the therapists, and the drug treatment programs at their best and worst. We're face-to-face with seventeen-year-old Mike, whose life revolves around selling, smoking, and snorting...

Alcoholism is one of the most common addictions affecting Americans. It also is an addiction that goes untreated in many cases because of the legality of the substance. This thorough look at alcohol, its rules, regulations and responsibilities, offers a bibliography for future research, and will engage readers to weigh the issues that unfold. Also included is a list of substance abuse related organizations and a detailed index enabling quick access...

Humans have been using various drugs to alter their moods and thoughts for thousands of years. Why do we do it? And what makes a particular person vulnerable to addiction? What can be done to stop problems with drug use before they start? Causes of Drug Use explores all these questions, sorting fact from fiction when it comes to the roots of drug use and misuse. From caffeine and aspirin to heroin and meth, drugs are an inescapable part of life in...

Coming of age in the drug culture of the 1960s and '70s led many young people to "turn on, tune in, and drop out"-experimenting with every available drug, chasing that ultimate high while looking for someone with whom they could share it. Thinking themselves invincible, they did not realize that they were flirting with danger-although they knew enough to stay below the radar of law enforcement while indulging in the pleasures offered in The Age of...

The American legal system has a complicated-and often self-contradictory-relationship with drugs. The pendulum has swung between outright bans, such as Prohibition, to an easing of regulations, such as is currently evolving with marijuana. From the War on Drugs to the Fair Sentencing Act, this book explores the many complex issues surrounding legislation, regulation, and addiction. From caffeine and aspirin to heroin and meth, drugs are an inescapable...

This book is about addictions of all kinds. Addictions to smartphones, sex, games, social media, gambling, money, but most of all to alcohol and drugs. The words 'addict' and 'addiction' are loaded with baggage. Not just in Australia, but the world over, addicts are considered to be sub-human, if not alien. This book aims to reclaim their dignity. It aims to rescue the word 'addiction' from its kidnappers and restore its humanity. It offers personal...