Drug abuse, also known as substance abuse is quite prevalent in our society. Teenagers are more prone to get addicted to drugs than adults. But we should first know that why do teenagers start taking drugs at first place. There may be several reasons. It may due to peer pressure, failure in love life, stress in work or lack of parental supervision. Drug addiction is a voluntary action no doubt. I have heard that people do that thing which they want to do.
But first let us understand what is drug addiction? It is a chronic brain disease which causes substantive use of drugs. It affects not only the individual himself but also the people around him. It impairs the brains function to work properly and people often loose their self control and self esteem. They have hallucinations and often loose their temper.
Teenagers cause self destruction by taking drugs. Every teenager knows the bad consequences of taking drugs but still they go for it. It is almost like a suicide attack where you know that the effects might be fatal but still they don’t care. There are so many drugs which leaves an adverse impact on our body and it takes years to come out of this addiction usually by medical treatment. Addiction is such a thing that even if you want to get rid of it, you can’t do it so easily.
I am going to highlight some of the serious side effects of some of the common drugs in order to spread awareness among the youth and encourage them to stop taking drugs as soon as possible. I know its not easy to quit drugs. But addiction medical treatments are available to these substance abusers combined with behavioural therapy. I completely agree that family support is very essential at this stage but drug addiction can only be controlled by effective medical treatments. So if you are taking drugs, stop it right now and seek help from psychiatrists. And those of you who are not into drugs, you should read this article if you do not want to suffer the consequences.
First I will discuss about the side effects of marijuna which can be eaten, brewed, vaporized but usually people smoke it. It has a similar chemical structure as neurotransmitter which is naturally produced by brain. Thus it fools the brain’s receptors to activate nerve cells to send abnormal messages. People who smoke marijuana immediately suffer from euphoria. Teenagers who start taking this drug may suffer from impaired brain development, decreased brain activity and hippocampus which controls learning and memory functions.
Cocaine is quite popular in the United States. When teenagers start taking drugs, their brains are more sensitive to this drug than a fully developed adult brain. The very first time a teenager starts taking cocaine, the brain prepares a defense mechanism by changing the shape of neurons. But by regular usage this mechanism gradually fails and it has adverse effects on the brain. It produces a large number of dopamine which impairs our emotional behaviour. It also causes euphoria.
Now let us discuss about the effects of heroin on human brain. Heroin is like a slow poison. Taking it regularly can cause breathing to slow down and finally stop it. This type of death is known as overdose. The very first time a teenager starts taking this drug, he or she might want to sleep and also the breathing rate slows down. It is so addictive that the teenagers want to take it more and more. They get dependent on it and find it very difficult to live without it. Finally these teenagers die by overdose.
So, teenagers beware yourself. If you are taking drugs, then you are helping yourself to get one step closer to death. It is high time you stop taking drugs. Try to fix all the things that is messed up in your life by other ways. Taking drugs is never an option. Only losers take drugs. I am sure no one wants to be a loser. So quit drugs as soon as possible or else suffer the consequences.
By: Pallavi Das
