Posted on July 21, 2010

Parents of teen girls should be worried about their approach to drug prevention. According to a recent Business Week report, a survey by the Partnership for a Drug Free America has found girls are more likely to reach for drugs and alcohol to find emotional freedom.

In this 2009 survey, it was determined that 53 percent of female high school students agreed with the idea that drugs can help you to forget your troubles. This was an increase from 48 percent in 2008.

The survey is designed to measure changes in substance use and attitudes. In the process of examining habits and attitudes among American teens, the survey determined that the use of alcohol and marijuana increased considerably more within the female population as compared with males between 2008 and 2009.

In addition, the study also found that fewer teen girls believed illegal drug use by the friends was wrong when compared with last year’s figures. Fewer girls also reported the “party” drug Ecstasy as being addictive.

Experts in the field believe there has been a change in the culture. One director of alcoholism and abuse at a New York hospital highlighted that women in the past had more constrained roles when it came to indulging in certain behaviors such as public intoxication. He also pointed to more women in the workforce and increased liberation.

This change has hardly taken place in one year, however, and additional focus into this area is necessary to truly identify the cause. The liberation of women has been going on for some time, which would suggest these figures should have been increasing for some time. With such a large jump in just one year, something bigger may be at stake.