Cocaine use among American teenagers poses important and complex problems for society. There are numerous factors that are explored in this paper which attempt to ascertain the causes of and treatment for cocaine usage and addiction among this age group. The paper also attempts to point out, with reference to various studies, that the treatment of cocaine addiction among adolescents is largely dependent on understanding the fundamental causative factors that initiate and motivate the addiction. The study will also focus on the causes of drug abuse and treatment of African American teenagers in the Untied States as the central group of this study. It is a central contention of this study that the treatment of cocaine addiction among African Americans must take place against the background and understanding of the particular social, economic and cultural conditions that applies this group. In this sense it was found that education was one of the important factors that could be used to treat cocoaine addicts and prevent usage.

Many researchers and experts believe that cocaine has a dispropo

The above study and research also indicates that African American adolescents have specific cultural and emotional issues that are important in the treatment of the addiction. Anther factor that should be considered is that other problems such as alcohol abuse might add to the problematics of the treatment process. As Wagenaar (1995) points out:

There are many other aspects that must be taken into account when attempting to understand cocaine usage. These include the important issue of peer pressures and association. Another aspect that has been found to be particularly relevant to the experience of the African American youth is family influences. However, among all these aspects one of the most important factors which differentiates the different racial groups in terms of the causes of cocaine usage was education and educational level. This variable was found to be particularly relevant to the African American youth.

... the estimated risk of crack cocaine use for respondents who had not completed high school was four times that of those who completed college. However, when respondents were divided by their current level of employment, it was found that unemployment diminished the potentially protective effect of education. (ibid)

Addiction and drug abuse may also be caused by "underlying feeling states". These states are of particularly importance in understanding substance abuse among adolescents. States such as depression are positively linked to alcohol and drug abuse. Research has also shown an important link between drug abuse among adolescence and the "the feeling of fulfillment of basic needs".(Mainous, Martin, Oler, Richardson & Haney, 1996, p 807)

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Approximate Word count = 2146
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)