Prevention Techniques for African American Teenagers Using Cocaine from the ages of 15-20 yrs of age.

            

             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. .

             1. The problem .

             Many researchers and experts believe that cocaine has a disproportionate effect on African American adolescents in comparison to other ethnic groups; they also believe that the problem has not been sufficiently researched or adequately dealt with. Caleb Banta-Greene, a research scientist at the University of Washington's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute, states for example that cocaine is not getting the attention that it deserves in studies and treatment procedures. "It's still disproportionately affecting the African American community in a city and states where there's a relatively small percentage of African Americans." (Iwasaki, John, 2005) There are many examples of cocaine-related deaths in various States. "In the first half of 2004, cocaine-related deaths were reported in King County, the third-highest total for any six-month period since 1997.