Causes of Drug Use Among Young People" by Jill Nicholson

1069 Words3 Pages

People think they know all the effects and reasons of why teenagers do drugs, but do they really? The very first day drugs were introduced was the day Columbus first stepped onto the U.S., when the Native Americans first offered tobacco to the newcomers. Drugs came again in the 1850’s, when the Chinese first came to work in the mines and on the railroads, they brought opium smoking with them and later started addicting the people of America. Once the extremely debilitating power of addicting drugs was recognized, many American cities and states, starting with San Francisco, began passing anti-drug laws in 1875. By the 1960’s, the great majority of Americans had forgotten the lessons of the first drug epidemic, and the use of drugs grew over time. Susan Erasmus says in her article "Why Do Teens Take Drugs?": “Studies have shown that there are more teens than ever before are taking drugs and the age at which kids start taking drugs is getting smaller and smaller each day” (2). Teen drugs are a huge problem in America considering: how good it makes them feel, why teens take them, the effects of taking the drugs, and a solution to help stop teen drug use. Once someone notices that their friend and/or loved one is doing drugs, they never take into full consideration the reasons why that person started doing the drugs in the first place. One reason why young people take the drugs they do is because it lets them forget or escape their problems. At the teenagers home, there may be a lot of screaming and yelling, or there is too much stress in their life or maybe that teen is being forced to do something they do not want to do and they see no way out of it. As it is said in "Causes of Drug Use Among Young People" by Jill Nicholson: “T... ... middle of paper ... ... 2014. . "Effects of Drugs of Abuse on the Brain." NIDA for Teens. NIDA For Teens, 19 Dec. 2013. Web. 19 Dec. 2013. . Erasmus, Susan. "Why Do Teens Take Drugs?" Health24. N.p. Cape Town Drug Counselling Centre, 11 Feb. 2013. Web. 19 Dec. 2013. . "Ideas on How to Help Your Friends on Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking."eschooltoday.com. N.p., 2010. Web. 09 Jan. 2014. . Nicholson, Jill. "Causes of Drug Use Among Young People." N.p., 11 Apr. 2013. Web. 19 Dec. 2013. .

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