Drug addiction is a major problem which has affected people of all ages.

Off late, children as young

as thirteen years-old are found addicted to drugs or their alternatives. Hospitals have reported an
increase in the number of overdoses in teenagers. Even as a result of having prescribed pain meds
due to chronic illness or post-operation, teenagers are addicted drugs. To bring a reduction in this
number, I want to create a research statistic that will cause an impact in the whole community. This
impact can include new medications with technology that reduces the effect a certain drug has on
pain receptors in the nerves but does not make the body used to it. This can potentially reduce the
number of teenage addiction cases. The grant can help us get access to information that we can add
to the statistics which will help in understanding and preventing drug abuse. It can also help us get
information from professionals who would not give us the required time to talk and understand the
problems that they have also faced in reducing the number of overdose cases.

The choices I made were taking a different approach to present my point in the grant. Instead of
trying to blame teenagers and that they do drugs to fit in with their peers, I tried to understand how
they get access to such drugs in the first place. There is another reason which poses as the major
cause for addiction- prescription medications. Hospitals do not take enough care to make sure that
they do not give more meds than required to the patients, or make sure that they do not get it
refilled. I do not blame the healthcare industry for the choices teenagers make, but it is definitely
one of the major reasons that children start using drugs, even if it is to ease their pain. It will make at
least a difference if followed strictly because the teenagers who are trying to get more drugs will not
have a way to refill their prescription.