“ My friend’s a dealer “. “ I don’t smoke bro, I just smoke up “. You get the gist right?
To be honest if you have ever used any of the above mentioned phrases to look even the slightest bit of cool among people, you’re not at all alone, everyone does this, but there’s something to be kept in mind, these things are not at all the epitomes of being cool rather they’re the examples of a new flock/set of youth with new definitions. Majority of people indulge in the practice of consuming drugs or alcohol while being underage to do the respective activity, merely due to peer pressure, in hope of establishing ones self as normal and “up to date”.
Now before we proceed, let’s make some points clear,
No the person who wrote this isn’t a boomer, I’m a teenager dude
No I am not at all against any such things
And I know its your life your rules
By the age of 15, about 29.8% of teenagers have had at least 1 drink, this rate further increases to 58% as the age constant increases to 18:
Alcohol is the drug of choice among teens. Many young people face the consequences of underage drinking, at too early an age. For the very same reason, underage drinking is an alarming public health problem. Each year, approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking(in the United States of America); this includes about 1,900 deaths from motor vehicle crashes, 1,600 as a result of homicides, 300 from suicide, as well as hundreds from other injuries such as falls, burns, and drownings.
Now, why do adolescents fall for alcohol ?
As children move from adolescence to young adulthood, they encounter dramatic physical, emotional, and lifestyle changes. Developmental transitions, such as puberty and increasing independence, have been associated with alcohol use. So in a sense, just being an adolescent may be a key risk factor not only for starting to drink but also for drinking dangerously.
What are the possible health risks ?
Whatever it is that leads adolescents to begin drinking, once they start they face a number of potential health risks. Although the severe health problems associated with harmful alcohol use are not as common in adolescents as they are in adults, studies show that young people who drink heavily may put themselves at risk for a range of potential health problems.
Brain Effects—
Scientists currently are examining just how alcohol affects the developing brain, but it’s a difficult task. Subtle changes in the brain may be difficult to detect but still have a significant impact on long-term thinking and memory skills. Add to this the fact that adolescent brains are still maturing, and the study of alcohol’s effects becomes even more complex. Research has shown that animals fed alcohol during this critical developmental stage continue to show long-lasting impairment from alcohol as they age. It’s simply not known how alcohol will affect the long-term memory and learning skills of people who began drinking heavily as adolescents.
Liver Effects—
Elevated liver enzymes, indicating some degree of liver damage, have been found in some adolescents who drink alcohol. Young drinkers who are overweight or obese showed elevated liver enzymes even with only moderate levels of drinking.
Growth and Endocrine Effects—
In both males and females, puberty is a period associated with marked hormonal changes, including increases in the sex hormones, estrogen and testosterone. These hormones, in turn, increase production of other hormones and growth factors, which are vital for normal organ development. Drinking alcohol during this period of rapid growth and development (i.e., prior to or during puberty) may upset the critical hormonal balance necessary for normal development of organs, muscles, and bones. Studies in animals also show that consuming alcohol during puberty adversely affects the maturation of the reproductive system.
Get that Charlie Sheen out of your head and lead the right path now, for even he came under a piano.
By the age of 18, 42.5% of teenagers have indulged in the practice of consuming illicit drug substances:
Marijuana. Weed. Ganja. Charas. These were examples of a few words that every teenager basically has a one-sided love on. You take any one of these words in front of a kid studying in grade 8-9, and he’ll start blabbering all his speculated information on the topic as if he/she were born high. *laughs in Snoop Dogg* The person they idolise — an idiotically represented character of charisma a baboon won’t be attracted to, named Kabir Singh, I really don’t get it why anyone, especially today’s youth would like him. Keeping our stock of silly puns aside, lets continue,
“ Smoking up as a teenager may increase one’s attraction towards illicit drugs.”
A research finds that occasional drug use as a teen is linked to heightened risk of other illicit drug taking in early adulthood. This similar pattern is noted in the case of smoking and drinking as well. Moreover, teens who regularly did drugs were 37 times more likely to be nicotine dependent and three times more likely to have a harmful drinking pattern than non-users by the time they were 21. And they were 26 times more likely to use other illicit drugs.
Marijuana use can impair functions such as attention, memory, and learning, and these effects can last up to several days beyond the time of actual “high”. Unfortunately for teenagers, marijuana use can have much more long-term effects. The teenage brain is not yet fully mature, with neurodevelopment continuing until at least the early or mid-20s. During adolescence the brain is particularly sensitive to drug exposure, and marijuana use impacts how connections are formed within the brain. Other effects on the developing brain include interference with neurotransmitters and abnormal brain shape and structure volume.
Studies have shown that the use of marijuana is associated with reduced cognitive function in teens. One study found that teens who regularly use marijuana lose an average of 5.8 IQ points by the time they reach adulthood. A recent study found that marijuana has a more negative impact on a teenager’s cognitive development than alcohol.
Other long-term risks associated with marijuana use include respiratory issues, increased chance of lung cancer and heart attack, problems with child development during and after pregnancy, and the development of Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (characterized by cycles of severe nausea, vomiting, and dehydration that may require emergency medical attention).
Most smokers try out their first smoke between the ages 12-14:
// these statistics are provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse reports.
Now wait a second…….. why is a stat involving smoking being taken up by a drug abuse institute. Well there’s a good reason to it too, the tobacco in cigarettes contains nicotine, which is a strong drug. And like many other drugs, nicotine is addictive. That means people who use it can come to depend on it and need to use it to feel normal.
Like other drugs, nicotine causes changes in your body. When people smoke, they breathe in tar and harmful gases such as carbon monoxide in addition to nicotine. These substances stop your lungs from working as well as they should.
Here's what happens when your lungs are doing their job right:
When you inhale, you breathe in a lungful of air. Air contains oxygen, a gas your body requires as fuel for all your cells. The oxygen gets into your body through your lungs. Inside your lungs is a complicated system of passages that get smaller and smaller. At the ends of the smallest passages are little air sacs called alveoli. Oxygen passes through these little sacs and gets into your bloodstream. From there, your red blood cells deliver the oxygen all over your body.
The cells use the oxygen for energy. When your red blood cells pick up oxygen from your alveoli, they unload another gas called carbon dioxide. This gas is the waste product your cells make as they do their jobs. When you exhale, you release this gas into the air.
But when you mix tobacco smoke in with the air you breathe, you cause a whole bunch of problems. Among them:
The nicotine in the smoke makes your blood vessels constrict, or get narrower. That means your heart has to pump harder to get the blood through -- and that's bad for your heart. A gas called carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke interferes with the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide that happens in your alveoli. Red blood cells pick up carbon monoxide in place of oxygen. That means your cells get less oxygen. Once again, the heart beats faster to deliver more blood to make up the difference. And that's not good for the heart. Tars in the cigarette smoke stick to the moist, spongy lining of your lungs. So do other harmful substances in the smoke. These substances can cause the killer disease lung cancer. Smoking is the leading cause of this cancer. Hot cigarette smoke burns and irritates the delicate lining of your lungs. More germs get into your lungs when you smoke. That's because smoke paralizes the cilia that line your breathing system. Cilia are tiny, hairlike bristles that work all the time to sweep germs and particles of dirt out of your lungs. When the cilia slow down or stop, more gunk gets in, and you're more likely to get colds and respiratory infections. Just one cigarette slows cilia down; lots of cigarettes stop cilia from moving altogether.
Because of these effects, cigarettes are very, very bad for your health. They lead to lung problems that make it hard to breathe, such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema. They help cause heart disease and heart attacks. And they cause cancer.
As of 1990, more than 3000 teenagers were becoming regular smokers everyday, although these numbers have had a drop among adults yet they continue to rise among adolescents. If this continues 5 million of today's kids will end up dying from smoking-related illnesses when they are adults.
You may think that you have a stupendous trait of having a massive tolerance/capacity but what you don’t know is that you are just collecting daggers for the murderer. Premature smoking, drinking, drug is not cool, fun, or safe, come out of that bubble now.
Next time someone offers you a joint, please say no and stop the other person as well. Now all you can do is either wait for a few years to cherish your beloved or you might not even have a few years in pocket later on.
Us teenagers are vulnerable and we need to be aware of such aforementioned facts.
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