Narcotics to Psychotics
Kawthar Hasan (Kay)
Ms. Larissa Pahomov
English 3
1 May 2017
Approximately 80% of people in the world who smoke and take narcotics suffer from major health defects and die due to simply taking; Tobacco, Xanax, Heroin, Marijuana, etc. Taking unprescribed medications or recreational drugs can lead people to have ‘Drug Addiction Characteristics’. This means that a person who abuses a chemical stimulant becomes dependent and addicted to it. Adults are not the only ones who struggle with addiction; teens are affected by this issue as well. In the United States teenagers struggle with drug addiction. Recreational and non prescribed drugs within the teen community is becoming more encouraged and accepted. Abusing them at such a young age will cause complications in their later lives, that could hinder how they function as adults.
There are differences and similarities between illegal, and legal drugs. There are also many ways of using them as well. The commonly used illegal drugs are; Marijuana, Hashish, Heroin, and more. Marijuana which also have many other names like weed, is a cannabis that can be smoked in cigarettes or joint. Hashish or hash is made from cannabis that can be smoked from a pipe, vaporizer, or joint. Heroin is processed from morphine and has a natural materials taken out from seed pod of particular poppy plants. On the other hand the most frequently used legal drugs are; Nicotine, Alcohol, OxyContin, etc. Nicotine is a stimulant/relaxant which allows people to be more ‘happy’ yet it increases the heart rate and pressure. Alcohol is a liquid substance that is usually comes in form of beer, wine, and liquor. OxyContin is a painkiller medicine that has an active ingredient of oxycodone. On “Addiction Center” website it stated the side effects of taking any drug; “Substance abuse affects teen brain development by: Interfering with neurotransmitters and damaging connections within the brain, Reducing the ability to experience pleasure, Creating problems with memory, Causing missed opportunities during a period of heightened learning potential, Ingraining expectations of unhealthy habits into brain circuitry, Inhibiting development of perceptual abilities.” Therefore, teens should avoid taking any drug whether it is legal or illegal so that they would not face any dominant health issues at an early stage in life.
As a person reaches adolescence stage in their life, they would often begin to experiment and find things out on their own, especially with drugs. At a young age many of them were taught by their parents, guardians, or at least their teachers to try to avoid becoming a drug addict simply because of how harmful it is to that person. While some may listen to that specific advise, others may want to learn the hard way of acting doing drugs. It could be affected by how their older advisers would guide them. An example could be, how someone could put too much pressure on persuading them to not take it and not necessarily telling them the consequences causing that teen to not care and start the addiction. Whereas, someone who is giving that health lesson offering a lot of great information for a teen to adjust to why they should not face harming themselves with it, what would go through becoming an addict, and ways/places to get seek for help to end the bad harmful habit. On the “Partnership for Drug-Free kids” site it offered information as to possible reasons to why they may take drugs and it stated; “...some teens abuse prescription medicine to manage stress or regulate their lives. Sometimes they abuse prescription stimulants (used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) to provide additional energy and the ability to focus when they’re studying or taking tests. Others are abusing prescription pain relievers and tranquilizers to cope with academic, social or emotional stress.” Nonetheless, teens sometimes find ways to do things with many activities and objects. This can be build by creating different habits for themselves. However, it can lead to start doing more positive or negative things to affect a path they would create themselves of their future. Either way, becoming an addict at a young age does not sound like a great path that someone should risk to take.
Drug usage at any age can cause many medical complications, but teenagers who have addiction to narcotics in particular are at a higher risk simply due to the fact that they are extremely young. For example, the most common problems that teens face after smoking include hysteria attacks, apprehension disorder, and depression. It also makes it very hard for them to give up their obsession if they are abusing it from their adolescence to adulthood since they have been on it for a while. This connects to the blog written by Casa Palmera Staff stating; “Statistics show that drug abuse is a growing problem among teens. In addition to cocaine, Ecstasy and other club drugs, a recent Monitoring the Future Study showed that the top six most abused drugs by teens are: marijuana (31.5%), Vicodin (9.7%), amphetamines (8.1%), cough medicine (6.9%), sedatives & tranquilizers (6.6% each). Without treatment, the effects of drug abuse on teens can lead to serious consequences now and well into adulthood.” Either way, if knowing that taking any harmful chemical stimulant can affect physically damaging their body, why even take the risk? There are many ways of resolving this addiction, but that person needs to willing take the second chance to be their vigorous selves again. Therefore, if teens want to live a nice healthy life as they get older, they should try to seek guidance in ending their obsession to drugs.
One way a teen can end their dependency on drugs is going to Rehab. Rehab is a facility that people stay to live for a period of time for recovery and they are 14,000+ rehab centers that are available in the United States. Treatment and unique techniques for anyone who is struggling with addiction is offered to help combat their disease. From the “Teen Challenge” rehab website it mentioned; “Unwilling to settle for helping only 20 percent of those desperate for help, Pennsylvania Teen Challenge and McFadden created and launched Project 80, where they are endeavoring to provide services for 80 percent of candidates calling for help.” A lot of times it is extremely hard for a teen to seek for help about their addiction, they may be so involved with their drug abuse that teens may not realize that they have an obsession and that they need any possible assistance.
If teenagers stopped to think about it, they would realize that taking illegal or legal drugs does not just involve having an addiction, but it also it causes a lot of health issues as they grow into their adulthood as well. No matter if they may be struggling in their life with, they should find more positive habits to solve their issues. Harming themselves can cause their situation to be worst that what it already is, especially around those who they may be encounter to. That is why teens throughout the world should put an end to their addiction to not only keep their bodies healthy and to save their lives but to allow them to have more of an open mind about what they are interested doing in life.
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