Substance Abuse is Leading even Pre-teens to Need Rehab in Australia
According to government reports Australia is dealing with children as young as ten reporting for rehabilitation. These pre-teens are seeking rehabilitation for addiction to substances like alcohol, marijuana, amphetamines and heroin and the numbers say that such occurrences are becoming more common. While there are a wide variety of reasons such treatment is sought out most of those seeking treatment are dealing with alcohol problems. At a rate of roughly 44% (up from 38% in 2002/2003) alcohol poses a larger problem for young teens and pre-teens more and more each year.
While it’s not totally unheard of for pre-teens this age to seek treatment from time to time the increase is definitely worth watching since it’s been on the rise over the last few years along with drug abuse (which while remaining lower than alcohol has had a bit more users as well) This increase comes after a steady five year declining period and accounts for about 700 more substance abusers seeking treatment recently. Heroine, while nowhere near as highly available or used as it was during the heroin heavy 90s is making a comeback in the country as well. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s study shows that there is a clear need for some sort of substance abuse management in this age group.
