Essays

Drugs use is the increasing problem among teenagers in today's high schools. Mostly drug use begins in the preteen and teenage years, the most crucial years in the maturation process.

Today, adolescents are faced with difficult tasks of discovering their self-identity, clarifying their sexual roles, asserting independence, learning to cope with authority and searching for goals that would give their lives meaning.

Drugs are readily available, adolescents are curious and vulnerable, and there is peer pressure to experiment, and there is a temptation to escape from conflicts.

The use of drugs by teenagers is the result of a combination of factors such as peer pressure, curiosity, and availability. Drug addiction among adolescents in turn leads to depression and suicide. One of the most important reasons of teenage drug usage is peer pressure. Peer pressure represents social influences that affect adolescents. It can have a positive or a negative effect, depending on person's social group and one can follow one path or the other. We are greatly influenced by the people around us.        

In today's schools drugs are very common, peer pressure usually is the reason for their usage. A person may be offered to try drugs, which is direct pressure. Indirect pressure is when someone sees everyone around him using drugs and he might think that there is nothing wrong with using drugs. Person might try drugs just to fit in the social norms even if a person had no intentions of using drugs, one might do it just to be considered 'cool' by his friends. Today drugs are considered to be an acceptable social phenomenon by many teenagers. There is a demand for drugs and the supply is plentiful. Since drugs are so easily accessible, a natural interest in them may develop. Many teenagers today believe that the first use of drugs is safe. However, even though there is no instant addiction with the first try, youngsters tend to experiment further. Soon, a person could actively seek the euphoric effects of drugs. The final and the most disastrous stage is when a person needs drugs in order to function adequately

One of the most devastating side effects of drug addiction and abuse is depression. Depression is the result of chemical imbalance, environmental influence, or a combination of both. Using heavy and very highly addictive drugs as heroin, cocaine, opium and many others will cause sudden mood changes, deterioration of the immune system, nervous breakdowns, unusual flares of temper and many other side effects.

Besides physical side effects, drug addiction can create problems in a person's social circles. The person may run into many conflicts with his family and friends, resulting in desire for isolation. This in turn will create more problems since the person will have no social support.

Furthermore, drug addiction is a financial strain, especially for teenagers. When a person is addicted to drugs he will do anything to obtain money to fulfil his needs. Teenagers may think of their problems as Inescapable, Interminable and Intolerable. Life may seem bleak and miserable. Seeing no way out, feeling lonely, and no prospects for improvement leads to depression, which can further lead to attempted suicide. Many studies have found that drugs are a contributing factor to suicide. Using drugs may reduce inhibitions and impair judgement. Suicide is a possibility. As one statistic illustrates 70% of all young people who attempted suicide used drugs. Illegal drugs, for example, weed, speed, acid, or ecstasy has always been a problem among the younger folks, the problems gets even more serious if it involves addictive substances such as cocaine. Another popular drug is LSD (Lysergic Acid Di- ethylamide), which alters a person's perception of sights, sounds, and touch etc, a person that has taken LSD might see or hear things that don't exist. About one hour after taking LSD it'll start to take effect, the user will see or feel things that don't exist, images maybe altered, for example, small objects may look huge, and also mysterious experiences, such as seeing ghost or religious objects. The consequences of taking LSD are severe, physical side effects include inducing violent and hazardous behaviour, also LSD develops tolerance quickly, so frequent users has to eventually increase dosage.

The other most popular thing is marijuana, or weed. It's usually imported from Africa, Asia, South America and Caribbean, but weed grown at home is getting more and more popular because of the sophistication of growing equipment. The most common effects are talkativeness, cheerfulness, relaxation and greater appreciation of sound and colour. Some immediate physical effects of weed use include a faster heartbeat and pulse rate, bloodshot eyes, and dry throat. The drug can impair or reduce short-term memory, alter sense of time and reduce the ability to do things that require concentration, quick reactions and effective co-ordination. A common bad reaction to marijuana is an acute anxiety attack. People describe this reaction as an extreme fear of 'losing control,' which causes panic. The problems of teenage drug use, depression and suicide are evident in our society. These are very real and threatening issues that have to be dealt with. Going into the 21st century we have to face to problems of our future generations. There are many non-profitable organizations that help teenagers to cope with drug use. There are help lines, community services that offer information about drugs, and individual counselling is available almost in every education institution. There is help available to those who seek it.

Would we ever be able to live in a drug free environment? Could we ever educate our future generations so those drug problems would be non-existent? Hopefully the answer is Yes.