Wanna Get Wasted?

By Minh Nguyen

Drug, a short four letter word, contains a lot of images and emotions: happiness, fun, heal, productivity, high, fly, sadness, grief, withdrawal, tears, pain, loss, and fear. Drugs take us to the cloud then cast us down on the concrete. In the video My Story: Drug Addiction by a seventeen year old teenager named Ben who did drugs to escape the life he hated, and drugs ruined his life. Not only Ben but many other drug addicts, whose youth and promising futures are threatened by meth, Dolphin, Cloud 9, etc..., are suffering horrific consequences of drug abuse. There are more and more young people start to abuse drugs, but drugs make people ugly, inside out. We have to learn to say no to drugs and find solutions to reduce drug use in teenagers. Drugs damage the brain. Our brain contains billions of neurons that together make up networks of communication and control how we feel, think, and function. In order for each message to be communicated in our brain, a brain cell releases a chemical (neurotransmitter) into the space separating two cells called the synapse. The neurotransmitter crosses the synapse and attaches to proteins (receptors) on the receiving brain cell. This causes changes in the receiving brain cell and the message is delivered (Drugs, Brains, and Behaviors-The Science of Addiction 16). According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, when drugs are taken, the chemical contents will interrupt the way a message is delivered by activating the nerve cells to transmit the message abnormally, like heroin, over releasing the natural neurotransmitters, and not allowing the recycling of brain chemicals to take place normally (17). To fool the nervous system, most drugs of abuse directly or indirectly target the brains reward system by flooding the circuit with dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter present in regions of the brain that regulate movement, emotion, cognition, motivation, and feelings of pleasure (18). This type of neurotransmitter lets us feel a rush of pleasure when we drink an ice cold glass of water on a super hot day, eat when we are hungry, have sex, or experience something we like emotionally. Drugs can release

two to ten times the amount of dopamine that natural rewards do...and the effects can last much longer if the drugs are smoked or injected (18). In addition to the more powerful influence that drugs have on dopamine, our brain is functioned to repeat these activities unconsciously because they give us happiness; thus once we do drugs, we start to establish a habit of consuming them more often so that we can gain pleasure (18). As the habit develops, our brain starts to become less sensible to rewards and pleasures; therefore, drugs abusers will feel depressed, in need of more drugs in other to create the high amount of dopamine that lets them reach the high they once felt (19). A few of my friends who first started out with heroin only sniffed half of a line that was two inches long to get high, but they started to feel less lively, bored, unsatisfied, so they sniffed a whole line, then 2 lines, and so forth. Now some of them is alternating to injecting liquid heroin because it gives them a faster and stronger feeling of pleasure. Moreover, other brain chemicals in drug abusers brains are also altered by the chemicals in drugs and can cause impairment in cognitive function, damage memory systems, and trigger uncontrollable cravings for drugs (19). As a result, teenagers who abuse drugs will gradually lose their ability to stay focused, learn, process, and absorb information, so they will do bad in school or even drop out of school. Once they have drugs addiction, a mental disorder, and they will have to do whatever it takes to have drugs, if they continue abusing drugs for higher dosages to produce an effect (20). This is when they will start to make wrong decisions and lose self-control because of intense cravings. Not only drugs kill our brain cells in many ways, but they also weaken our immune systems, cause several health systems, and increase the risk of catching infectious diseases. According to Schlaffer, the risks associated with drug abusing are cardiovascular hypertension, stroke, coronary artery disease, gastrointestinal and biliary ulcers, pancreatitis, cancer of the

gastrointestinal tract and lungs, cirrhosis of the liver, chronic obstructive pulmonary artery disease, neuropathy, vitamin deficiencies, hematopoietic anemia, and death by overdose (Schlaffer 560). When a person is under the influence of drugs, he/she are more likely to do things without thinking such as sexual intercourse without protection, consuming drugs with alcohol, and sharing unsanitized needles. Such behaviors will lead to intoxication, unwanted pregnancies, sexual transmitted diseases, blood infections, and most dangerously HIV/AIDS (Schlaffer 562).

Long term drugs addiction can result in thoughts of suicide and suicides. Imagine a teenager, who is so young with a promising future, has to wait to die because of HIV; even if he tried to change his life, his youth is still wasted. Or a young girl addicted to drugs and became a mother at such a young age she cant even take care of her own baby, not to even her baby is negatively influenced by drugs. What would her future be like? What would the future of the baby be like? The consequences of drugs are beyond health problems; they bring horror and sadness to the entire society, especially to the young generation. Friends of mine who are drugs dependants, including my ex-boyfriend, quit going to school and started working at Pho restaurants during daytime and selling drugs at nightclubs like Volume

and Trinity in Seattle in order to have money to buy more drugs. After each time getting messed up, they still go to work, but try to rest every minute that they can find. They attend the clubs from Thursday to Sunday night so that they can go around and ask if anyone wants drugs. They even take advantage of when people are not attentive to their drinks and sneakily put ecstasy pills in the drinks. I remember when they first came to Seattle and went to the same college as I did, they used to be innocent kids who didnt even know about drinking alcohols, but now drugs turned them into criminals. I broke up with my ex-boyfriend because he constantly lied to me even though I was trying to help him quit heroin. Drugs distort the youths personalities, throw their future in the trash cans, and drag them to hell.

It is very sad that more and more young people are engaged in drugs. My eighteen year old cousin, stole his mothers money and jewelries, hit his father, took his sisters scooter, and ran away from home with his friends for the call of heroin after having hiddenly done it for a year. A month later, he was arrested for breaking in somebodys house at night trying to steal their

TV and almost choking a little baby to death because she was crying. Our family found him at the police station wearing a dirty ragged blue tee with a pair of muddy, torn apart cropped jeans. He was skinny to the bones; hair grew messily long and covered parts of his emaciated face that looked like there was no blood flowing in it, lips cracked, and his eyes were filled with tiredness, fear, and cravings of a starving wild animal. Mumbling and kneeling at his father, he begged for bailing him out, while his mother was so shocked she felt to the ground crying hysterically. My cousin cried: Please get me out of here! I promise I wont touch that stuff (heroin) again. I swear Ill quit and go back to school. If you love me, you wont let me stay here. Im scared. All these people are scaring me. That shit is ruining your life and this entire family. I dont know what I can do with you anymore. Youre a monster!, my uncle shivered while big drops of tears were running down his cheeks. He pushed his son off his legs and walked out of the police station. The white powder that my cousin once thought brought him happiness scattered his future and family to pieces. Theres a huge blanket of shame covered his family; my uncle and aunt barely want to mention about their unfortunate son, who is in jail as well as rehab for another two years. Drugs abuse among teenagers is achingly increasing. Along with a study that showed more than 15 percent of American teens meet the criteria for substance abuse, a study done by Joel Swendsen and his colleagues of the University of Bordeaux in France revealed that 81.4 percent of the oldest teens reported the opportunity to use illicit drugs, 42.5 percent used drugs, and 16.4 percent were drug abusers (Drug, Alcohol Abuse Common Among U.S. Teens, Study Finds). The article Heroin use soars for suburban teens suggested that there is an increase in heroin use among teenangers in recent years, 510 deaths of teenagers from the age of fifteen to twenty four in 2009 ,compared to 198 deaths in 1999 (Murray). What has lead to such an increase while

many of our teenagers are educated about drugs abuse? During teenage years, young people have to go through many dramas, changes and challenges. When they go to school, they want to fit in and be respected by the other kids. At home, their parents might not totally understand them because of generation gap and conflicting communication. They start to care more about how they look, how they dress, what they drive, how to be cool like other kids, how to get a girlfriend or boyfriend, how to maintain a relationship, and how to gain attention from others. Its a very complicated process that each teen has to go through. Im in my teenage years, so I understand how frustrating it can get and sometimes I just want to escape from reality. This is probably one of the reasons that teens use drugs to get away with their problems. The problems come from their own families, schools, and friends. Having no one to listen to, lacking care, supervision, and sympathy for what theyre going through, being afraid of judgement and embarrassment, teens find that the euphoria drugs create help them forget and feel better. Many teens, like my friends, choose to do drugs because they have nothing else better to do on the weekend after school and work. They said their lives were too boring, so they had to keep finding something new to do. Ive heard the same reason from my high school friends who smoked weed. However, they dont just voluntarily try drugs because they know drugs are bad, but they are indeed talked into it by their peers. Teens dont want to feel left out or be seen as losers, so they try to fit in and take the risk. Besides, the media, including music, movies, magazines, advertisements, and celebrities, has been pumping perceptions about partying, SWAG, Project X, living the life, YOLO etc...My generation with the advancement of technology, is so influenced by the new ideal, fun lifestyle that the media creates. For example, the song Last Friday Night by Katy Perry teaches its viewers to get

loaded at a party, max their credit cards, have strangers in their beds along with a list of other troublesome things, and of course to do them all again on next Friday night. By consuming these cultural texts, teenagers can develop a desire to do the same things, but little do they realize the consequences can be extremely bad. Drug availability is another reason that contribute to the increase in drugs use among teenagers. Teens steal prescription medications from their parents medicine cabinet and bring them to parties, then take them with alcohol to get high. These medications are of course legal. This type of drug taking trend is called Pharming Party, which has worked its way into pop culture via message boards, song lyrics, and even T-shirts (Nelson 41). This new trend has become so popular that between 1992 and 2005, the increase percentage in legal prescription drugs abuse in teenagers is 212 percent according to a report by Columbia Universitys National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (Nelson 42). Not many parents would think the drugs in their cabinet can be abused by their own children; they probably just think their kids are just taking painkillers because their wisdom teeth hurt or they just fell down during sport practices. In addition, illegal drugs are not hard to purchase these days either. They are traded at nightclubs, parties, and even in schools. Street drugs are in fact cheaper than prescription drugs; for example, heroin costs only 1/10 the price of prescription drugs (Murray). We need to help our friends, brothers, sisters, and children stay away from the hands of the drugs devil. Actions need to be taken primarily inside each household. Nowadays, as the economy is unstable and parents have to work extra hard to support their families, children are usually not taken care of well enough. It is understandable that parents will feel tired, want to rest, and set aside conversations with their children. However, these conversations have huge impacts on parent and child relationship, especially when the parents know how to their kids friends.

According to the book Preventing Drug Use among Children and Adolescent, a healthy familial relationship based on family bonding is one of the most important keys to keep our children away from drugs (qtd. in NIDA 3). In order to enhance positive parent-child relationship, parents need to improve their parenting skills by practicing in developing, discussing, and enforcing family policies on substance abuse as well as enriching their knowledge in drug education and information (qtd. in NIDA 3). Parents can choose friendly and fun methods to create conversations that interest their children and at the same time reinforce family disciplines and the danger of drug abuse. They should participate in parenting organizations such as the Active Parenting and Preparing for the Drug Free Years ... Bored teens tend to take more risks as many studies have proven. Therefore, it is necessary to create more activities of various interests for teens to choose from. Youth groups at local churches are the most convenient and fun places for teens to meet other teens, take part in different activities such as mission trips, bungee jumping, snowboarding, crafting, car washing, and many others. Ive attended Skate Church in West Seattle for two years because their youth group is amazing. Kids can play whatever instruments they like, skate in the church, be in charge of lightings and sounds for each music night, help with advertising, cook and serve food, and of course join in Bible study. Their Facebook page is always loaded with fun photos of activities that the kids have done. If teenagers are not interested in religions, they can attend free music performances at the Vera Project. Not only do teens have an opportunity to attend at free concerts, but they also can volunteer to set up the stage, publish personal stories as well as display their arts. Besides the Vera Project, Teen Tix at Seattle Center offers cheaper deals on tickets to concerts, exhibitions, and events in Washington State area. If teens sign up for an account on Teen Tix at Seattle Center, they will only have to pay five dollars for most venues,

museums, and events. Teens who like to help out and volunteer can check out Seattle Park Teens for information about upcoming day and night activities and places for teens to go hiking, biking, climbing, kayaking, and explore nature. Environmental factors must be improved, such as schools and neighborhoods and especially education. In order to make changes, it requires our entire society to take action. Once there is effort from everyone, we can definitely protect our teenagers from drugs. As a teenager, I encourage every young person out there to stop and think thoroughly before deciding to be involved with drugs. They can give us a good buzz at the beginning, but once we are addicted to them, they become everything. They twist our lives, steal everything from us, control what we do, push people we love away, destroy our health, and kill our dreams. It is important for each of us to firstly educate ourselves about drug abuse and how to prevent them. It is also our job to pass the message Dont do drugs to our families, friends, colleagues, and lovers. Dont let drug addiction define who we are. Be the change!

Work Cited Banta, Carolyn. "Trading for a High." Time. Time, 24 July 2005. Web. 13 July 2012.

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Habbick, Victor. Drug Use and Addiction. Digital image. Free Digital Photos. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Aug. 2012. HealthDay. "Drug, Alcohol Abuse Common Among U.S. Teens, Study Finds." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 02 Apr. 2012. Web. 10 July 2012. "HIV/AIDS." WHO. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 July 2012. Judkis, Maura. "#YOLO: The Newest Acronym Youll Love to Hate." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 29 June 2012. Web. 13 July 2012. Last Friday Night. Perf. Katy Perry. YouTube. YouTube, 12 June 2011. Web. 28 July Nelson, David Erik. Teen Drug Abuse. Detroit: Gale Cengage Learning, 2011. 41-42. Print. NIDA. Preventing Drug Abuse among Children and Adolescents. 2nd ed. Bethesda, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-National Institute of Health, 2003. NIH. Drugs, Brains, and Behavior-The Science of Addiction. N.p.: NIH Pub, 2010. Web. 12 July 2012. Nucylee. Purchase And Sale Of Medicine. Digital image. Free Digital Photos. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Aug. 2012. Murray, Rheana. "Heroin Use Soars for Suburban Teens." New York Daily News. N.p., 20 June 2012. Web. 05 Aug. 2012.

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My Story: Drug Addiction. Dir. TheSuperLifeOf. YouTube. YouTube, 27 July 2011. Web. 12 July 2012 "Parenting Education." Active Parenting. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Aug. 2012. Photostock. Teens Dancing In Night Clu. Digital image. Free Digital Photos. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Aug. 2012. "Preparing for the Drug Free Years." Strengthening Families. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 July 2012 Project X Trailer. YouTube. YouTube, 02 Nov. 2011. Web. 17 July 2012. Schlaefer, Katherine. "Drug Abuse." Encyclopedia of Global Health. Vol. 2. Thousand Oaks: Sag Publications, 2008. 560-62. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 July 2012. "Seattle Parks Teens | Home." Seattle Parks Teens | Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Aug. 2012 "Skate Church | Facebook." Facebook. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Aug. 2012. "Swag." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 08 Sept. 2012. Web. 14 July 2012. "Teen Tix at Seattle Center." Seattle Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Aug. 2012. "The VERA Project." The VERA Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Aug. 2012.

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