Teenage drug addiction first began to emerge in the United States and other Western countries in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and in the USSR, teenage drug addiction began to emerge in the late 1960s.
Teenage drug addiction first began to emerge in the United States and other Western countries in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and in the USSR, teenage drug addiction began to emerge in the late 1960s.
Scientists studying drug addiction among teenagers noted the following age-related characteristics:
In the USSR, teenage drug addiction was regional in nature, i.e. there were regions where teenagers used only cannabis (Central Asia, Kazakhstan, the Caucasus), inhalants were used in the north and middle zone, in the Far North teenagers dabbled in tranquilizers. The regional character was explained by the fact that adults (usually foreign tourists) imposed the "fashion" for drugs, these regions were the first to fall out of state surveillance and it was here that negative behavioral models of the Western way of life began to penetrate. Teenagers who so wanted to be like "cool" adult foreign uncles quickly absorbed behavioral models and other attributes of a beautiful carefree life. In the 80s, drug use spread throughout the country. Age-related features of teenage drug addiction boiled down to the fact that teenagers aged 12-15 preferred to abuse drugs, and older teenagers (16-18 years old) preferred intravenous drugs. Those teenagers who abused drugs switched either to hard drugs or alcohol. Alcoholism in such teenagers developed malignantly, the cause was severe mental disorders arising from the inhalation of toxic substances.
Drug addiction among teenagers was difficult to treat, this is due to the fact that teenagers rarely gave voluntary consent to compulsory drug addiction treatment, and if they did, then only in order to avoid other troubles. Teenagers viewed drug addiction treatment as a form of punishment, so most of them started taking drugs again within the first year. Treatment of drug addiction among teenagers turned out to be 
not effective enough, and special means of suppressing the craving for drugs do not exist in our time. The most effective method of treating teenage drug addiction is psychotherapy, and only if the teenager has voluntarily expressed a desire to be cured of drug addiction. Psychotherapy for teenage drug addiction aims to stimulate the desire to be cured of drug addiction. Most teenage drug addicts do not consider themselves drug addicts or believe that they can always quit this “bad habit.” Therefore, psychotherapy should convince the teenage drug addict that he or she is really sick and motivate the teenager to seek treatment for drug addiction. Individual psychotherapy is not as effective as group psychotherapy, but group psychotherapy is fraught with complications, so it should be performed by experienced specialists. Otherwise, a psychotherapeutic group created from teenage drug addicts can quickly turn into a typical group of drug addicts. Treatment should begin when the teenager has not yet developed a drug addiction. For teenagers, harakteren so-called "search" polydrug addiction, this is when a teenager tries many drugs on himself (usually in ascending order). Intravenous drugs initially alarm teenagers, but gradually they get to them, so it is important to start treating a teenager for drug addiction as early as possible. At an early stage of drug use by a teenager, there is no need to use medications, except in cases of intoxication.
Prevention of teenage drug addiction should begin with health education, but not in the form in which health education is used now. Prevention of teenage drug addiction aims to reveal the terrible harm that drugs can cause. However, the frivolity with their health that is typical of teenagers is not always taken into account. Prevention of teenage drug addiction is not carried out in effective enough ways, for example, lectures and conversations are unattractive to teenagers, and sometimes can cause a protest reaction. More interesting and visual presentation of information for teenagers are films shown on television, special youth programs about the dangers of drugs. However, even the most thoughtful and effective prevention of teenage drug addiction will be ineffective if the teenager is surrounded by adults who use drugs (drunkenness is one of the types of drug addiction), especially relatives or friends. The teenager gets the impression that all programs about the dangers of drugs greatly exaggerate the harm from drugs, a false idea is created that if he wants, he can always quit, etc.
Prevention of teenage drug addiction should be carried out by experienced specialists who are able to identify teenagers at risk. It is necessary to take into account that stories about the harm of drugs can provoke (in insufficiently stable teenagers) an interest in drugs.
Prevention of drug addiction among teenagers should be carried out by a narcologist with extensive experience in adolescent narcology.