Introduction In today’s society, teens are a common target of anti-drug campaigns and government advertisements. The goal of these campaigns is to make teens and young adults aware of the dangers associated with drug use. While these campaigns are generally effective, teens are still greatly tempted by the dangerous, exciting, and fast-paced world of club drugs. Despite the information they are constantly receiving from their teachers, parents, and government media, some teenagers will still adamantly pursue drugs in hopes of finding “a good time.” Some of the club drugs that teens are likely to try are extremely dangerous and can ruin a person’s mental or physical health with just a few uses. Because teenagers’ nervous systems are still developing, it is very easy for them to become addicted to drugs after even one use. The lifestyle that can be brought about by the use of club drugs can be a vicious cycle of self-destruction, and can have a rapid detrimental effect on a teen’s chances to excel in life. However, many times facts are skewed by media and government agencies in order to keep teens off drugs. While this sort of propaganda has good intentions, many people find it morally unjust to deliberately misinform people, even for their own benefit. Some risks are greatly exaggerated, and some of the “facts” which are commonly accepted are barefaced lies. In this report, I hope to create a source of unbiased, legitimate facts about club drugs and the ways they are used by teens, and the effects that they can have on a teenager’s life. I believe it is better to know and understand the risks of drug use, and make an educated decision about using them, than to be told what to think and what to do by another person. Ketamine Hydrochloride (“K”, “Special K”, “Ket”, “Vitamin K”, “Cat Tranquilizer”) Ketamine is one of the lesser-known club drugs around today, and gets far less media coverage than other more common drugs. It has been used as a veterinary and medical anesthetic since 1965, and was known for producing a fairly safe, if unusual, anesthesia in patients. It was only in 1999 that Ketamine became a controlled substance in the United States, after governmental anti-drug agencies took note of people using it as a recreational drug. &... ... middle of paper ... ...ments can be made for or against this statement, but the fact remains true that many people are concerned about drug use in teens. Combating and reducing sales and use of club drugs is not an easy task, nor one that will be accomplished quickly, if at all. This isn’t going to stop people from trying. As long as there are teens who abuse drugs, there will be people fighting to stop them, for better or for worse. Bibliography 1. “Teens’ use of meth growing.” The Daily Oakland Press. Posted by an anonymous internet user. April 11, 2005. http://www.theoaklandpress.com/stories/041105/edu_20050411011.shtml 2. “Dark Crystal: Crystal Meth Across Canada.” CBC News. Author’s name not available. March 23, 2005. http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/darkcrystal/canada.html 3. “Ecstasy.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica premium Service. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?tocId=9343568&query=ecstasy&ct= 4. Berube, Margery S., et al. “LSD”, “Ecstasy”, “Methamphetamine”, “Ketamine”. The American Heritage College Dictionary. 2000. 5. Multiple Anonymous Posters. “GHB”, “MDMA”, “Meth”, “Ketamine”, “LSD”. Erowid.org.* http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/psychoactives.shtml
Kids start being introduced to drugs at a very young age because the first interaction with them is being told not to do any of them. Most kids have no idea what drugs are until this program is introduced in elementary schools telling kids not to do drugs. In “There’s No Justice in the War on Drugs”, Milton Friedman talks about the injustice of drugs and the harsh reality of being addicted to drugs, and the causes or side effects that come along with them. The author clearly argues the “war on drugs” and uses analysis and data to prove his argument. The author agrees that the use of government to keep kids away from drugs should be enforced, but the use of government to keep adults away from drugs, should not be enforced. The author has a clear side of his argument and the audience can clearly see that. He argues against the “war on drugs” claim that President Richard M. Nixon made twenty-five years ago, he adds ethos, logos, and pathos to defend his argument, and uses a toulmin
At the beginning of the article a brief history of ketamine is given, describing its use as a anaesthetic during the Vietnam war in the 1960s, its use in veterinary medicine as a horse tranquiliser and its revolution as a drug of abuse in the dance scene in the 1990s. The article also mentions the side effects heavy users have experienced from using ketamine, mainly increased bladder and kidney damage. Furthermore, after a review by the Government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, concerns have increased about this side effect, as patients have become very unwell needing a total bladder removal. Laurance mentions Robert Dunman, who describes ketamine as the “biggest breakthrough in depression research”. Professor Duman studied the effects of ketamine, which are meant to be triggering the release of glutamate, increasing and restoring the function of neuron synapses, which are reduced in patients with chronic depression. The article states that ketamine has shown to be able to increase mood levels with a single dose and effects lasting up to 10 days. Due to this Laurance sanctions ketamine’s potential use as a treatment for depression, mentioning that a third of patients with depression are not improving from current treatments available for depressio...
Frontline’s “The Meth Epidemic,” is a shocking documentary that exposes the dangerous effects of meth and explores the cultural patterns related to meth addiction. Understanding the severity of the effects of meth and how it is made are two important lessons to take away from this video because understanding those two things will help us to better understand how to combat this epidemic. Two effects of meth addiction are an increase in property crimes and an increase in the number of children entering foster care. Shockingly, half of the inmates in Portland jails were meth users, and meth addicts commit 80% of the property crimes in Oregon. These statistics show how meth can not only negatively affect an individual and a family, but a whole community.
Everyday people are peer pressured and influenced into multiple unhealthy behaviors. Acts such smoking, alcoholism, and unprotected intercourse are frequent issues in any lifestyle. Friends, family, and especially the media have a way of twisting a person’s mindset into believing these unhealthy choices are safe. Currently, the most reoccurring phenomenon is issues with drugs. More often than not, there are reports on people misusing and abusing drugs, particularly celebrities and athletes.
Randall, T. "Rave" scene, ecstasy use, leap Atlantic. Journal of the American Medical Association. 268: 1507 (1992)b.
Masci, David. “Preventing Teen Drug Use.” CQ Researcher, 15 March, 2002, Volume 12, No. 10. Accessed October 1, 2003,
We claim that we need to "set a good example," but the government's every effort to impress fear upon our youth, to stigmatize drugs and drug users, has failed to have any effect.... ... middle of paper ... ... Ideally, I would not have to persuade my readers with facts.
Drugs cause an overall disturbance in a subjects’ physiological, psychological and emotional health. “At the individual level, drug abuse creates health hazards for the user, affecting the educational and general development of youths in particular” (“Fresh Challenge”). In youth specifically, drug abuse can be triggered by factors such as: a parent’s abusive behavior, poor social skills, family history of alcoholism or substance abuse, the divorce of parents or guardians, poverty, the death of a loved one, or even because they are being bullied at school (“Drugs, brains, and behavior”) .
Most people do not understand how a person become addicted to drugs. We tend to assume that is more an individual problem rather than a social problem. However, teen substance abuse is indeed a social problem considered a priority for the USA department of public health due to 9 out of 10 Americans with addictions started using drugs before the age 18 (CASA Columbia University). Similarly, 1 in 4 Americans with addictions started using the substance during their teenage years, which show a significant different with 1 in 25 Americans with addiction who started using at 21 or older (CASA, 2011).
...about all the popular types of drugs among young people. Then, it compares drugs to alcohol in terms of their effects and why parents are scared of their children trying them. It also discusses ways of preventing youth from starting drugs and ways to detect early signs that could lead them to taking drugs or show that they have started.
After interviewing my teenage cousin whom has been in several altercations at home and school, enlightened me on the ways that teenagers in her age group gets involved in drug use. Kids start as young as ten years of age using, selling, and experimenting with drugs. My teenage cousin was expelled from public schools when she started experimenting with drugs. She was surrounded by many challenges when she enrolled in the alternative behavioral school. Many students, whom attend the alternative behavioral school use drugs, sell drugs, are on probation, have been arrested, engage in sexual activity and drink alcohol.
High school students are leaders to younger kids and many others in their community. As a leader these student must show others what good character is like, but instead they are destroying their lives by doing drugs. In the past decade the drug use among high school students is on the rise once again. With the internet, their exposure to drugs is much greater. High school students are convinced that they are able to get away with using drugs. These drug addicts soon influence other students into doing the drugs because there isn’t a rule preventing drug use. In order to protect these student’s future, drug tests must be enforced among all students ensuring a safe environment for students to learn successfully. Allowing random drug testing in high schools will shy away students from trying these harmful drugs. The stop of drug use among high school students is crucial because drugs prevents student from learning leading them to dropping out of high school. Students that become overwhelmed by these harmful drugs will ruin their lives forever, but if steered in the right direction they can be saved.
The more we practice an activity, the more neurons develop in order to fine-tune that activity, causing addictive behaviors to be detrimental. Adolescence in particular can be easily influenced by abusing a drug or multiple drugs. I believe this happens because teens often lack education, live in an environment where drugs are readily available, are peer-pressured, and the lack of proper growth of the frontal lobe. Many factors contribute to adolescence experimenting with drugs. As a side from being a child, the adolescence stage is of great importance.
Few people deny the dangers of drug use, while many teens are curious about drugs. They should stay away from drugs because drugs affect our health, lead to academic failure, and jeopardizes safety. Drugs are used from a long period of time in many countries. The concentration of drugs has increased from late 1960’s and 1970’s. Drugs can quickly takeover our lives. Friends and acquaintance have the greatest influence of using drugs during adolescence.
Each day drugs make a huge impact on our generation. Throughout this topic I would like to know what causes teenagers to try illegal drugs and how impacts their lives. Drugs can affect a person in different parts of their lives. For example their education, work, personal life, and can affect the relationship with their family and friends.