GENETICS AND TEEN DRUG ABUSE

While drug and alcohol problems often seem to develop at random during adolescence, environment and family history both play a larger role than most parents realize.

Addiction is a psychological illness that spawns from a variety of influences, both internal and external. While not every teen who develops a substance problem has a family history of drug use, there are so-called “addictive genes.” Children whose immediate family members have these genes are more susceptible to falling into dangerous patterns of substance use.

Studies show that around 50