Drug abuse is a serious issue that plagues our society. Every age group has a fair share of drug users. However, according to the survey conducted by U.S Department of Health and Human Services, teenagers and young adults are two of the biggest culprits - 15.8% of people aged 16-17 and 22.6% of people aged 18-20 use drugs. The use of illicit substances by teenagers is caused by the fact that there’s no regulation of drugs like marijuana. A drug dealer isn’t going to check a person’s ID when he conducts a deal. Additionally, teenagers who are addicts are afraid to get help for themselves due to the fear of being labeled criminals. That produces dire consequences for the person (where the teen who’s overdosing, for example, is afraid to seek a professional medical help) and for the country. The decriminalization and legalization of drugs are the solutions to the problem of teenage drug abuse. It will reduce the number of teens who can buy drugs and will also reduce the amount of drug-related deaths.
There are several key factors that explain why teenagers are prone to use drugs. Peer pressure, school problems, disagreements with parents, bad communities. All of the above share one trait - they are things that cause stress. For example, research by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America has discovered that “73 percent of teens reported that school stress is the primary reason for drug use.” (Feliz, 2008) Therefore, we can deduce that teenagers seek drugs as means of coping with stress and distraught. They use drugs and feel better for a while. However, after effects wear off, their state becomes worse. Problems didn’t disappear and withdrawal effects plunge teenager deeper into a depressed state. A person starts associating drugs with a good emotional state, where they’re not plagued by the problems. Thus, they seek more and more drugs.
Yet, stressful events are not exclusive to teenagers. Why do they use, in percentage, more drugs than other age groups then? National Institute on Drug Abuse says following on the juvenile drug addiction: “The adolescent brain is often likened to a car with a fully functioning gas pedal (the reward system) but weak brakes (the prefrontal cortex).” ("Principles of Adolescent Substance Use Disorder Treatment", 2016) In other words, teenagers seek pleasure but they’re too young to realize that certain activities have too many risks associated with them. Long-term problems far outweigh short-term satisfaction that one receives from drugs. Due to limited decision-making skills, teenagers do not fully comprehend consequences of drug use.
The dopamine, a natural chemical that controls reward and pleasure centers in the brain, is the “culprit” here. All activities that we enjoy, be it talking with friends or watching a movie, release a certain amount of dopamine. From a chemical point of view, that is why we find those activities pleasurable. When a person consumes drugs, dopamine is released too. The amount, however, is far greater in comparison to usual activities. That is why after a long period of abusing substances, a person becomes addicted. The association of pleasure and drugs becomes stronger with each use. Soon, other activities do not satisfy an addict. All he wants is to do drugs.
The addiction and health issues aren’t the only threats that drugs pose. Drugs can also be dangerous by proxy, so to speak. It is known that teenagers are impulsive and find trouble controlling their emotions. Usage of drugs can amplify those issues, leading to harsh outcomes for the drug user and people around him. “In the past year, youth who used an illicit drug were almost twice as likely to have engaged in a violent behavior as those who did not use an illicit drug.” (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2007) The drug use makes a person more unpredictable and more prone to a violent behavior.
There are many examples where drug use led to horrible consequences. As an example, let’s look at the murder of Hae Min Lee. The case has received a nationwide attention, after its coverage by the Serial, a podcast by Sarah Koenig. The murder in question is more than 10 years, why did it pique Koenig’s interest? Perhaps, because the circumstances of the murder are unclear, many believing that Adnan, Hae’s ex-boyfriend, and the main suspect, didn’t have a motive for murder. People who know him said Adnan wasn’t a violent person, never had violent fights with his girlfriend. He was just a normal man. If we assume that he did murder Hae Min, could it be due to the influence of drugs? “Syed has admitted he used to smoke a lot of marijuana, particularly when he was hanging around with Jay. They used to smoke at Jay’s house, in the car or at the homes of mutual friends.” (Underwood, 2014) Weed isn’t a drug that’s really associated with violence, but effects of illegal substances can be unpredictable. The fact that Adnan has a blurry memory of the January 12th, the day when the murder happened, might be attributed to lying. Alternatively, he really might not remember, due to well-known negative effects of marijuana on memory. We might never know whether Adnan did it or not. If he did, was it due to the influence of drugs? These are speculations. What is not a speculation but a fact is that if Adnan wasn’t a frequent drug user, he might not have found himself in that situation. If he’s guilty, a sober state could’ve prevented his violent outburst towards Hae Min. Additionally, if he’s innocent, clear mind and memory would’ve helped him during the trial, where he could construct a legit alibi.
Decriminalization and legalization of the drug use might be the solution to the problem. Legalized drugs reduce the number of would-be users, seeing as they have to be of an age to buy the drugs now and selling to them is now punishable by law. It also helps the risk-factor group - already addicted teens. Frequently, teens are afraid to seek help when they’re addicted because they feel like they would get in trouble with the law. Those fears lead to horrible tragedies, of teenagers dying from an overdose. Decriminalization and legalization should eradicate those fears and also remove the stigma of a “forbidden fruit” that drugs pose. For many, appeal of the drugs is to prove to themselves that they do not abide by the “system” and that they can do what they want.
There is evidence in the world and in the U.S. that those programs work and have positive socioeconomic effects. For instance, in 2001, Portugal has decriminalized all drugs on their soil. As the result, Portugal has one of the lowest percentage of drug-induced deaths in the world - 3 deaths per a million of citizens. In comparison, in the UK it’s 44.6 deaths per million.
U.S has their own examples of positive effects of legalization of drugs. Colorado, which was the first state in the U.S. to allow recreational sales of marijuana in 2014, has seen positive effects on the economy already. In just one year, it has brought 135 million dollars into the state coffers. Additionally, the amount of weed related arrests, which were the reason of a significant public outcry, has fallen down. Percentage of high-schoolers who use marijuana has also fallen down.
It’s not the only view on the issue, however. David Mineta from Americas Quarterly believes that decriminalization and following legalization of drugs will do more harm than good for the well-being of the country. He argues that tobacco and alcohol, two fully legalized and easily sold drugs, cause more deaths in a year than all illicit substances combined. The reason being is that they’ve been used for so many years that their use is accepted as something normal
There will always be arguments for and against drug decriminalization. The issue is not a trivial one and more research and evidence-based arguments have to be produced before forming a final opinion on the subject. Current effects of drug legalization in states like Colorado are mostly positive ones. However, it’s not clear what are the long term effects of the legalization. Health experts from Colorado report that they’ve seen an increase in the use of marijuana by adults aged 25 and higher. The amount of drivers under effects of marijuana has also increased. In few years, when the use of marijuana becomes more socially acceptable, people will become more lenient and careless about its use. How many people nowadays think it is okay to drive drunk? Logically, we can assume that there will be many people who’d think that driving high is safe too. Overall, positives of legalization overweight negative consequences but further investigations into the topic need to be made to achieve a deeper understanding.
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