TODAY’s generation has become lazy and a generation that wants what they call a soft and easy life. They don’t like challenges.
The moment they face a small challenge they resort to drugs, under the disguise of trying to escape from the challenges. Some do so to look cool among their friends, but there is one thing that the youths should understand, know and get in the mind. The risks and effects of drugs that they take to look cool.
Drug abuse is a problem which is rising and seems never ending among the youths. The young say taking drugs solves problems, some say it relieves stress and also a large number of youths then step in and say consumption of drugs makes them happy and popular.
Peer pressure is the major cause of substance and drug abuse among the youths. Youths then start taking class A substances saying they want to fit in, but unaware of the risks, effects, dangers that come along with drug and substance.
Peer pressure
Drug and alcohol impacts nearly every part of your body from your heart to your bowels. Substance abuse can lead to abnormal heart rates and heart attacks, and injecting drugs can result in collapsed veins and infections in your heart valves.
Some drugs can also stop your bones from growing properly, while others result in severe muscle cramping and general weakness. Using drugs over a long period of time will also eventually damage your kidneys and liver.
When you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, you may become careless and forget safe sex practices. Having unprotected sex increases your chances of contracting a sexually transmitted disease. Sharing the needles used to inject certain drugs can give you diseases like hepatitis C, hepatitis B, and HIV. You can also spread common colds, the flu, and mono from sharing pipes and bongs.
Drugs – Image taken from Shutterstock
Drug and alcohol abuse not only has negative effects on your health but can also have legal consequences that you’ll have to deal with for the rest of your life.
Many employers require that you take a drug test before offering you a job — many of them even conduct random drug tests even after you become an employee. Refusing to give up drugs could end up making you unemployed, which comes with even more issues.
These are some of the risks and effects of drug abuse, now it’s up to us to not run away from challenges and hiding behind drugs because it will be causing more and more problems to our health and even in our social life. It’s time we resist peer pressure and laziness and it’s time we face our challenges head on and live a healthy life free from drugs and substance abuse.
Now it’s up to me and you to stop drug and substance abuse by educating others that don’t know the effects of drug and substance abuse.
Thandekile Ncube is an Upper Sixth learner at Luveve High School.