Science / Medicine : Teens More Susceptible to Cocaine, Study Says

Cocaine may be as much as 12 times more addictive for teen-agers than it is for adults, according to psychiatrist Todd Estroff of Glenbeigh Hospital of the Palm Beaches. “Typically for adults, it takes two to four years from first use to addictive abuse. For teens, this same process can occur in just two to four months,” said Estroff. He questioned 479 youths aged 14 to 19 who were enrolled in long-term outpatient drug abuse treatment facilities. He said 138 had abused other drugs but not cocaine and 341 were cocaine users. He found that 55% of the intermediate cocaine users and 65% of the heavy users had progressed to weekly use of cocaine in less than three months.

“This indicates cocaine may have a greater addictive potential among adolescents than among adults,” he said. Estroff said 60% of teen-age heavy abusers went to extreme measures to get cocaine, including theft, drug dealing and trading sexual favors.

Daily marijuana use was frequent with all respondents before they began to use cocaine, with light users smoking marijuana 52% of the time and heavy users 77% of the time. As the addiction progressed, there was a greater tendency to experiment with crack cocaine.