How Substance Abuse Starts

For many people, risky behaviors that lead to drug abuse addiction start during early adolescence. Most of these children do not progress in their drug use, but the ones who do are often associated with one or more risk factors for drug abuse, including:

• Aggressive behavior.
• Inadequate parental supervision.
• Easy access to drugs.
• Living at or below the poverty level.

If a child is exposed to several of these risk factors, there is a greater likelihood that he will abuse drugs later in life.
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Some people begin abusing drugs during adulthood despite the lack of risk factors. In many cases, the abuse starts with a simple prescription by a physician for a legitimate medical purpose. There are quite a few drugs, especially prescription pain relievers, that your body builds up a tolerance to. You then require more and more of the drug to achieve the same effect, which can lead to abuse as well as physical and psychological addiction.