Of the 14.6 million teen marijuana users in 2002, nearly 5 million used Marijuana for more than 20 days per month. This, together with the fact that the marijuana that is available today is much stronger than the marijuana that was available in the 1960’s, means that Marijuana is starting to become a very serious problem.
When asked, 2 out of 3 students admitted that they knew at least one person that smoked Cannabis. One went on to say that she had also tried weed herself, as everyone around her was smoking it. This is a perfect example of peer pressure, being forced into doing something you would not normally do, and with the Cannabis population rising, a vicious circle is starting that will become harder and harder to break as time goes on.
Although young people are urged to stay away from drugs and alcohol, national surveys show that the majority of the population do not take note of the warnings. The student in question here knew the consequences of taking Cannabis, but did not mind, as she said that “It won’t do any permanent damage”, and that it must be okay because “everyone is doing it, they do it on television, you see it all the time in magazines.” This unfortunately shows us, no only that trying to warn people into not taking these drugs doesn’t work, but that because Celebrities are being pictured and reported taking them, its putting a false image of safety into the back of the teens mind, making them think its all “Okay’’.
But teens should know and understand that cannabis can mess with your mind, big time. Smoking cannabis can cause problems in different areas of your life. It may cause people to develop physically later and also may trigger serious mental health problems in your later life. Although the initial effects when using Cannabis makes some people chilled out, relaxed, giggly and talkative for that moment the down sides are far more long term. Because the drug also has hallucinogenic effects teens are unaware of what is really happening and ‘feel nothing’ so do stupid things, which can put them in danger and those around them. When ‘coming down’ from the drug you can feel paranoid and very insecure. You also get hunger pains which are knows as ‘the munchies. Problems sleeping, sweating and shaking also happens with some people who get addicted and this obviously effects how you get on at school, or not.
The regular use of cannabis also makes it harder to give it up. The answer is just never to start. Why people start in the first place is entirely their own choice but the downside of getting addicted affects them and everyone around them for the rest of their lives. Just don’t do it…
