An overview of drug abuse amongst teenagers and its prevention.
This paper examines the trends and statistics of drug abuse among adolescents and discusses its criminal and health consequences. The paper looks at the perspective of legalizing drugs and explains why the public overwhelmingly favors keeping illegal drugs illegal. The paper then considers the issue of prevention and argues for a community effort involving parents, the media and the government. The paper asserts that society must revaluate its values to save its youth.
“The most alarming trend is the increasing use of illegal drugs, tobacco, and alcohol among youth. Children who use these substances increase the chance of acquiring life-long dependency problems. They also incur greater health risks. Every day, three thousand children begin smoking cigarettes regularly; as a result, a third of these youngsters will have their lives shortened. The use of illegal drugs is associated with a range of other diseases, including tuberculosis and hepatitis, AIDS etc. Two and-a-half million teenagers reported they did not know that a person can die from alcohol overdose.
“Drug addiction is a form of enslavement. It “alters pathologically the nature and character of abusers,” says Phoenix House president Mitchell Rosenthal. The state can take action not just to free addicts from chains of chemical dependency that take away the freedom to be all that God meant them to be, but to prevent those bonds from shackling them.”
“Drug addiction is a form of enslavement. It “alters pathologically the nature and character of abusers,” says Phoenix House president Mitchell Rosenthal. The state can take action not just to free addicts from chains of chemical dependency that take away the freedom to be all that God meant them to be, but to prevent those bonds from shackling them.”