People around the world have been abusing drugs for as long as there have been drugs to abuse, from prescription medications to recreational drugs. Drug abuse can be influenced by a variety of experiences, events and personality characteristics, but environmental factors also play a role in the potential for drug abuse to develop.
Acceptability
In families where drug use is acceptable the risk for use to develop into abuse increases, although some people will reject drugs when they witness and experience the negative consequences. When a person is exposed to an environment where drug use is viewed as normal and common, the person will likely begin or increase her drug intake, reports the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. This acceptability and regular use is likely to influence the development of problems with drug abuse.
Poverty
Growing up surrounded by poverty can increase the possibility for drug abuse, notes the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. Neighborhoods that have high rates of poverty tend to also have high rates of drug abuse. Drugs are often sold in these neighborhoods as a way to make quick and significant amounts of money. Drug dealers often push their drugs onto influential teens and children by giving them away for free; this is a way to ensure a continued supply of consumers.
These impoverished conditions can make people feel as though they have little control over their life and are helpless because they have no way to rise up from the poverty. This lack of self-worth and learned helplessness can lead a person in these conditions to use drugs as a way to mask the pain of the situation.
Peer Groups
People are more likely to abuse drugs if the people they surround themselves with abuse drugs. According to TeensHealth.org, the peer groups that teenagers find themselves in influence whether they will begin using and even abusing drugs. Peers will influence each other to use drugs by convincing one another that drugs will make them feel good about themselves, notes TeensHealth.org.
Exposure to different peer groups that use drugs and appear to benefit from drug use will likely influence a teen to begin using drugs in order to fit in, have more energy or increase athleticism, notes TeensHealth.org.
Access
Having drugs readily available can influence drug abuse, notes the Mayo Clinic. When drugs can be easily accessed the barriers to abuse are reduced. Teens often begin abusing prescription drugs and over-the-counter medications because they can easily find them in their home medicine cabinets or by buying them at the local pharmacy.
In neighborhoods and schools where drugs can be easily found the rates of drug use and abuse are higher. If a drug is scarce it is less likely to be abused.
