...acceptance, or hereditary factors. While teens are trying to understand the constant changes in and around them, they forget that there are serious consequences in underage drinking. Alcohol can cause “depression or anxiety…suicidal thoughts and violence….addiction…risky sex…or brain damage.” (2) Arguably the most dangerous concern of teenage drinking is drinking and driving. “Approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking; this includes about 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle crashes.” (3. “Underage Drinking.” Department of Health and Human Services. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. January 2006. <http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/AA67/AA67.htm>) To legally drink in the United States you must be at least 21 years old. Anyone, regardless of age, who is driving with a BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) of 0.08 percent (0.08 grams alcohol per 100ml alcohol) or higher is considered to be “driving under the influence”, or DUI. A study at Casa Palmera showed that “28 percent of 15- to 20-year-old drivers who were killed in car crashes had been drinking.” (2) Even though there are positive sides to drinking, most teens don’t have the knowledge or restraint to be able to receive only the good. Alcohol is a “‘gateway drug’ to other illicit substances [such as] marijuana, cocaine, Ecstasy or heroin.”(2) Marijuana, also known as “weed” or “pot”, is the next most common drug taken by adolescents. Marijuana contains...
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...‘Illness is simply a matter of bad luck, bad judgement, or bad genetics’ is a statement that expressed how health can be affected by the ‘luck’ of the environment that an individual is born into. The aforementioned statement expressed how health can be affected through a bad judgement of misdiagnoses made by health practitioners. The statement then declared how having bad genes allows an individual to become more susceptible to specific disease (Marvell, 2012). This statement focused on how health is influenced by psychological (bad judgement) and biomedical (bad genes) determinants, for example, being overweight is seen has having bad genes however, sociocultural factors such as gender, media and age can also largely affect an individuals’ health status. In 2002 the World Health Organization (WHO) released the Madrid Statement, saying: "to achieve the highest standard of health, health policies have to recognize that women and men, owing to their biological differences and their gender roles, have different needs, obstacles and opportunities." Meaning that the needs and barriers of both women and men (for example, women are more likely to develop breast cancer than males) are a major influence on the health of the individual and if the Government wants to achieve high national health, knowing the needs and overcoming the barriers must be addressed. A bad luck obstacle males have to face is the expectancy to participate in labour intensive jobs such as being a constructor and...
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...Marijuana: An Addictive Drug for Teens Amina Saad Substance Abuse Counseling August 1, 2013 Argosy University Marijuana is the most popular illicit psychoactive drug amongst millions of people world wide (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). Today marijuana is a popular drug amongst teens and remains the most commonly abused drug amongst them by a wide margin (New Port Academy, 2013). It is an addictive substance for teen’s recreational use. The 2009 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that the use among marijuana among 12 to 17 year olds increased 9 percent from 2008 to 2009, (ONDCP, 2013). According to New Port Academy (2013), A study funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse found that in 2002, more than 10.8 percent of all 10th graders and 32.4 percent of 12th graders abused marijuana at least once in the last year. It was also found that in teens between the ages of 12 to 17, boys were more likely to use marijuana than girls, (2013). “Marijuana effects a juvenile brain more severely than an adult brain,” (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). Among adolescents, alcohol use is first and marijuana use follows. As of 2011, Marijuana became legal in 16 States in the United States (Inaba & Cohen, 2011). According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), there has been increasing efforts to legalize marijuana which can cause marijuana to drop in price, increasing the use of the drug (2013). Keeping it illegal keeps the price of marijuana...
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...Marijuana is a threat to our future , it can cause health problems the older you get in life so stop the use of marijuana. That’s why I never had an experience using drugs because I know that drugs are bad and it cause a tremendous health issue to you body and can actually cause deaths and thats an issue in America still in these years.I heard about marijuana but never touched it or smoked it but i have smelled it because in the middle of the night right next to a store I smelled something very odd around that parking lot and it was marijuana in the middle of the driveway that was turned on but got dumped in the street.That is a problem in our society but when will it stop? I believe that prop 19 should not pass because so many young teens...
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...teenagers have probably explored with alcohol use in high school before college. The problem with underage drinking is a problem throughout all high school and colleges around the country. A lot of people don’t understand the consequences or the impact it can have on their lives, as they get older. Most of the time parents are unaware of the risks that their children face when they are involved in underage drinking. According to the National Survey on Drug Use, it is approximated that 24% of the population between the ages of 12 through 20 have engaged in underage drinking. Medical Experts say that alcohol can be used to increase metabolism and also helps with digestion. Despite the fact that it is against the law for college and high school students to consume alcohol, there is a large amount of teenagers experiencing the usage of alcohol. Even though it is said to be favorable, too much consumption has led to negative result and side effects. It is apparent that teenage alcohol abuses are basic problems that need to be taken up in society by our leaders, advisers and as well as the parents. Many people ask this question everyday, “Why do teenagers take prescription drugs?” Well most of the time teens wrongly believe that these drugs are more safe than regular drugs mainly because they are accessible to them from home or from friends. Breaking away from reality and being bored are the main reasons that teenagers abuse drugs. Peer pressure to continue friendships and relationships...
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...CheckPoint: Drug Use and Delinquency Response What are the main reasons of youth drug use? One of the main reasons that a youth chooses to use drugs in this article states that they are trying to gain social recognition. They want approval from there peers and could even be trying to cover or numb there own hurt or feelings by taking there own bodies to another world. This is most common to a teen that lives in areas of poverty apposed to ones that live in upper class areas and go to upper class schools. Seems like this is the in thing to do when it comes to there friends, they may have issues fitting in at home so they use this way to fit in somewhere. Unaware that it is easy to get into drugs but hard to get out. How does drug use relate to delinquency? Once a teen has formed a relationship with drugs then they have to find ways to support that habit that they have obtained, This is where the delinquency starts they sometimes don’t have to money or access to money to buy there drugs so they steal or rob maybe even prosecute in order to get the drugs they want, The further they get into drugs the less interested they become in school or social events so they start to fade out of these areas as well. Only leaving time to get into trouble or find more ways to get the high that they want out of the drugs. They stop thinking about what kind of trouble they can get into and start and I don’t care mode of thinking, Reference: LAURITSEN, J. L., SAMPSON...
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...marijuana, society fears its legalization increases youth intake, health problem, and violence. In the article “Teens will suffer if R.I. decriminalizes marijuana”, the author Brendan P. Doherty argues that use of marijuana results in effect to brain, violence, and public safety (par 1). Doherty is a law prosecution veteran and a criminal investigator (par 4). He is experienced in operating drug arrests and interviewing teens, adults, and juveniles indulged in marijuana (par 4). He is a 28-year-old adult; fearing decriminalization will encourage young people to smoke pot, which impairs their health. Therefore, he writes the article to make teachers, counselors, parents, and any person concerned about young adults of the country aware of the effects of decriminalization (par 2). Furthermore, he...
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...04 May 2018 Should Marijuana Be Legalized in All States for All Uses? When people hear the words “weed” or “marijuana,” they often think and say that it is bad or no good because of the events that occur when people use it. They also are aware that the drug is illegal across most of the United States of America. What most people do not understand is the positives that making marijuana legal across the nation entails. An abundance of controversial topics exist throughout today’s society, and the debate of whether or not marijuana should be legalized for all uses in all states is just one of many of them. Today, nine states and Washington D.C. have the drug legalized for all uses. However, other states only...
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...In the past few years, drug use in high school students has continually increased. Drug use is a major problem and is becoming more and more of a dilemma everyday. Because of this, school administration are starting to take a stand. They have began giving “random” drug tests. These drug tests affect students who participate in extracurricular activities, plan on attending prom, and have a high school parking pass. By giving these random drug tests, schools are given a chance to track the drug usage throughout their school. Teen drug and narcotic usage has became more of a problem in recent years due to the fact that students are beginning to feel more comfortable with the consequences that could be faced when being caught with or using drugs. By putting that into perspective, raising the consequences of being caught with drugs along with conducting drug tests, the usage of drugs and narcotics may become more feared. People have concurred that drug testing has both strengths and weaknesses; however, many people will agree that the arguments agreeing with drug testing outweigh the arguments against it. Random drug tests are a distinguished way to control the uprising problem of drug usage among teenagers. Although high school drug tests have caused controversy, they are the best way to solve the drug...
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...and Current Drug Trends in America Sarah Pierce PSY425 October 25, 2010 Scharlene De Horney Past and Current Drug Trends in America Drugs come in many forms and from many places. Drugs have been around since the beginning of time and people have been using them since they discovered them. Drug use began thousands if not a hundred thousand years ago as humans started exploring their environment. People would see a new plant or observe an animal’s behavior after consuming the plant, and out of curiosity, they would experiment with it or taste it. This is how some of the drugs we know today came about. Cocaine, opium, LSD, peyote, and marijuana all come from plants that primitive people discovered while tasting the environment around them. This paper will identify the past and current trends in the use and abuse of substances (drugs) in the United States. It will also discuss when it is viewed appropriate to use illicit drugs. Moreover, this paper will analyze the health and social problems in the United States that occur due to drug abuse and addiction. Trends American views on drugs have gone from one extreme to the opposite over a period of about 200 years. In the late 1700s through the 1800s, everyday Americans legally used substances like opium, cocaine, and marijuana for medicinal, spiritual, and recreational uses. At the beginning of the 1900s, the American view on drugs began its dramatic change. As of 1971, America is in an outright “war on drugs”. Past The...
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...Quality Check Is the use of heroin, crystal meth or cannabis legal? No. Are these drugs still circulated and used in our society? Yes: “40 per cent of Canadians having used it (marijuana) at least once in their lifetime. [1]” The war against illegal drugs has been a long and vigorous battle. Rather than fighting the use of cannabis head on, our government should approach this in a different manner. Canada should legalize marijuana use because this allows the government to regulate the distribution and quality of the cannabis. Marijuana should be legalized because the overall distributed quality of the drug can be controlled more efficiently. Buying ‘weed’ from the street can lead to low-quailty marijuana consumption. Most drug dealers pay more attention to profits rather than quality. In some cases, Marijuana bought illegally is ‘laced’ with chemicals: “ the act of adding one or more substances to another” [3]. This allows dealers to...
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...quote shows how Marijuana is treatable in a way, “Marijuana use can be used to treat and prevent eye disease Glaucoma.”(Welsh 1) People have diseases a main one is definitely Glaucoma, which affects how you see and how things are just presented. Having Marijuana could help with it; the more it’s thrown out how good it is it’s going to be successful. Overall Marijuana might be judged on how bad it is for people but it’s very helpful in many ways. Another disease that has Marijuana as a solution is a type of Cancer (CBD)/ID-1, which is a type of gene. This quote explains the usage of Cannabidiol, “Cannabidiol stops cancer...
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...called Cannabis sativa. It contains a chemical called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) that affects the brain system. Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States (SAMHSA, 2014). People smoke marijuana in many different ways. Some method of choice are in hand rolled cigarettes referred to as Joints, water or non-water pipes known as Bongs or emptied cigars known as Blunts. People also bake Marijuana in sweets such as cookies candies and cakes. When an individual smokes marijuana short term the toxic chemicals immediately rushes from the lungs and into the blood stream. The blood steam immediately distributes the chemical to the brain and the rest of the organs in the body. The parts of the brain containing the highest amount of receptors are affected by THC that involves altered senses, sense of time, mood change, impaired body movement, memory, difficulty thinking, and solving problems. Long term use also affects brain development. For example if a teenager use the drug it can negatively affect the building of the brains connections between spaces needed for thinking memory, and learning. These affects could last a long time or perhaps may become permanent depending on the body. For example, a study showed that people who started smoking marijuana heavily in their teens and had an ongoing cannabis use disorder lost an average of eight IQ points between ages 13 and 38. The lost mental abilities did not fully return in those who quit marijuana as adults. Those...
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...current population of the U.S.A. is 313.9 Million according to United States Census Bureau, and the World Bank (2012). Fifty percent of Americans, 156.95 Million, support legalization of marijuana. These numbers demand drug reform in this country. Half of the drug arrests, 850,000 Americans, where arrested in 2010. Eighty eight percent, 748,000 of those arrests were for marijuana possession alone. The current criminalization of marijuana undercuts future economic development. Incarceration reduces former inmates’ earnings by forty percent, devastating families and communities. Former users with an arrest record for possession of marijuana should not be prevented from obtaining employment, or from accessing social benefits. (Huffingtonpost.com 2014) Decriminalization of marijuana will allow for future economic development, and increase the tax base to further pay down the trillion-dollar deficit. Marijuana should be legalized nationally in the U.S.A. The general census is that the use of marijuana leads to the use of other harder drugs. Marijuana currently considered a precursor drug, meaning that the use of marijuana leads to experimenting with other types of illicit drugs. Columbia University’s national center on addiction and substance abuse reports that teens who used marijuana at least...
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...Recreational Drugs Tiwander Aleck COMM/156 March 4, 2012 Instructor: Cheryl Mason Recreational Drugs We are risking our lives without knowing it! Any substance with pharmacologic effects used for satisfaction or personal pleasure rather than for medicinal purposes, is called recreational drug use. Examine this, individuals young and old have answered the question whether, recreation drugs are good for you. They have answered this question by suffering the consequences of misusing recreational drug. Society needs to be aware that recreational drugs such as Cocaine, Alcohol, and marijuana have contributed to health problems, criminal activity and addiction. Awareness of the effects of these drugs, without a doubt needs to be addressed in the United States, to help lower the negative statistics recreational drugs have caused, which will give individuals a chance before they decide to participate or misuse recreational drugs. Alcohol is one of the most used recreational drugs today. Alcohol can cause a variety of feelings such as relaxation, happiness, drunkenness and sleepiness. Any consumption of alcohol goes directly into the bloodstream and physically affects are body and mind. Alcohol is mainly used for sociability; it is very common for binge drinkers to abuse alcohol, and result with the disease of alcoholism. It is estimated by (National Institution of Justice U.S. Department of Justice, 2007) that more than half the people that...
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