Impact of Drug abuse on Youths

[nglihua@hotmail.com]

hello people, I'm doing a project regarding the impact of drug abuse on youths and therefore i would like to find out

1) what could be the common drugs that youths first associated with?

2) what might be the possible reasons that cause them to take drugs?

3) How will these effects of drugs harm them?

i will be glad if you could give me replies towards my questions. i thank you all in advance 

[Corlist]

1) One of the most common and well-known drugs is Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). It is more commonly known as "Ecstacy".

Ecstacy is common because a class 8-restriction substance, Methamphetamine, is a small portion of MDMA. Methamphetamine can be legally possessed by licensed people.

2) I'm betting on peer pressure and a lack of understanding about the actual effects of such drugs.

3) Effects of drug abuse can vary greatly. Because most of them are Empathogen-entactogen in nature, they tend to affect your brain and your central nervous system. This creates a false sense of "happiness" or reduce the body's natural ability to feel physical pain.

Some of the more dangerous drugs, such as diacetylmorphine (heroin), can accelerate or lower heart rate to dangerous levels, resulting in dying of exhaustion or cardiac arrest. (Heart failure)

[Synchronium]

nglihua: Cool. What kind of project? Like, some sort of report? If so, can we have a look at it when you're done?


Corlist: Interesting reply, but I think those drugs you listed are more common with adults than the youth.


Here's some simple answers to your question that are more youth-orientated:

1) In my opinion, the most common drugs people first encounter are caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and cannabis. Caffeine is legal and available to anyone, so much so that people don't treat it like a drug. Nicotine and alcohol are both also readily available, since they're legal. The age restriction is only a minor hindrance. And finally, cannabis for a number of reasons: Firstly, it's everywhere - probably easier for people under 18 to buy than alcohol. Secondly, it's pretty cheap - ?10 pocket money is not going to fund a cocaine habit, but ?20 for 3g of weed is affordable. Finally, it's effects are quite minimal compared with other, harder drugs - maybe the extreme effects of cocaine, ecstasy or heroin would be too much.


2) There's a lot of evidence to suggest that getting intoxicated to alter your perception is completely natural. Almost as natural as eating, sleeping and sex. Check out the following New Scientist articles for some in-depth information:

• Getting out of our heads. New Scientist (2004), 2473 pp3
• The intoxication instinct. New Scientist (2004), 2473 pp32

You might not be able to access them, unless you've already paid for a subscription. Chances are though, you school probably has a subscription, so they can either get it for you, or let you access it via a proxy.


3) In terms of harm, the only damage worth talking about from those drugs would be from prolonged use in the young. There's evidence that taking drugs while the brain is developing can lead to impairment, but I've not got any sources I can give you. There's also the problem of addiction, which can lead to all sorts of issues. It's worth noting that cannabis is the least addictive of the four drugs I mentioned in the first place. Check out this news article, in particular the graph of each drug's relative harm.


Hope that helped.