<P> Substance abuse prevention efforts typically focus on minors--children and teens . Substances typically targeted by preventive efforts include alcohol (including binge drinking, drunkenness and driving under the influence), tobacco (including cigarettes and various forms of smokeless tobacco), marijuana, inhalants (volatile solvents including among other things glue, gasoline, aerosols, ether, fumes from correction fluid and marking pens), cocaine, methamphetamine, steroids, club drugs (such as MDMA), and opioids . </P> <P> Environmental and internal are two main factors that contribute to the likelihood of substance abuse . Environmental factors in the individual's adolescence include: child abuse, exposure to drugs, lack of supervision, media influence, and peer pressure . Drug activity in an individual's community may normalize the usage of drugs . Similarly, if an individual is placed through treatment and then placed back into the same environment that they left, there is a great chance that person will relapse to their previous behavior . Internal factors that are within the child or personality - based are self - esteem, poor social skills, stress, attitudes about drugs, mental disorder and many others . A few more factors that contribute to teen drug abuse are lack of parent to child communication, unsupervised accessibility of alcohol at home, having too much freedom and being left alone for long periods of time . </P> <P> main risk periods for drug abuse occur during major transitions in a child's life . Some of these transitional periods that could increase the possibility of youth using drugs are puberty, moving, divorce, leaving the security of the home and entering school . School transitions such as those from elementary to middle school or middle school to high school can be times that children and teenagers make new friends and are more susceptible to fall into environments where there are drugs available . One recent study examined that by the time adolescents are seniors in high school, "almost 70 percent will have tried alcohol, half will have taken an illegal drug, nearly 40 percent will have smoked a cigarette, and more than 20 percent will have used a prescription drug for a nonmedical purpose" (Johnston et al., 2013). Binge drinking has also, been shown to increase once an individual leaves the home to attend college or live on their own . </P> <P> Most youth do not progress towards abusing other drugs after experimentation . Research has shown, when drug use begins at an early age, there is a greater possibility for addiction to occur . Three exacerbating factors that can influence drug use to become drug abuse are social approval, lack of perceived risks, and availability of drugs in the community . Most young adults have a false perception that they may be invincible . These individuals believe changes won't be made until an extreme event happens i.e. a friend overdoses, a car accident or even death . Even then it is not likely that they will see the correlation between use and trauma . </P>

Causes consequences prevention and rehabilitation of substance abuse in south africa