Popular teenagers use drugs to maintain status, study says

By Staff Writer

A new study reveals that many teenagers use drugs in order to remain well-liked by their peers.

Canadian researchers recently discovered a link between popularity and drug consumption, the Time India reports. The study shows that children with more friends experiment with mind-altering substances at a higher rate.

Wanting to appear cool to their peers - especially if their friends are also popular - leads more kids to drugs than a desire to escape emotional problems, the study says.

"The teenagers we studied were well-accepted, very sensitive to social codes, and understood the compromises that it takes to be popular," according to the study.

Researchers concluded that many teenagers do not use drugs in order to increase their popularity, but they instead use to preserve their status. The study also reveals that most drug use increases as children get older, regardless of their popularity.

According to a survey conducted by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, approximately 8 percent of the drug and alcohol admissions in treatment facilities in the U.S. involved children 17 and younger.