Alcohol and Tobacco Consumption: The Killers that Evade Justice
Teenage alcohol and tobacco abuse is one of the most predominant problems faced in America. Its devastating effects on the American youth has plagued America for over 50 years. Once considered an unharmful fad, alcohol and tobacco use has increased among the youth, and modern research has proved it to be a malignant tradition. Research shows that about 81% of high school students drink alcohol, 31% binge drink at least once a month, and 75% of smokers have started before the age of 18. These statistics are absurd, and they reveal how action must occur if America is to solve this crisis. Alcohol and tobacco use can cause devastating damage to not only the body but also the mind; they dramatically affect one’s lifestyle in a negative manner, so action needs to be taken to stop the spread of this epidemic.
Alcohol and tobacco can cause serious damage to the body, especially when the consumer is below the legal drinking/smoking age. Alcohol consumption seriously damages the liver, which can lead to liver cancer. It also rapidly changes blood glucose, causing hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia. Finally, alcohol raises blood pressure (causing heart attacks or strokes), leads to kidney disease, and can cause nervous disorders, in which balance and memory are impaired. Smoking tobacco can lead to heart disease, cancers of the mouth, throat, and lungs, and is detrimental to physical activity. Tobacco also contains nicotine, which causes addiction to smoking, and it can cause headaches, dizzziness, and anxiety/depression. This addiction leads to increased abuse of tobacco by the consumers. All these disastrous effects occur when adults consume alcohol and tobacco; now imagine if the youth consumed these products. These symptoms would be likely to occur more rapidly because a youth’s body isn’t fully developed.