The Real Gateway to Drugs | Teen Ink

The Real Gateway to Drugs

November 3, 2011
By JBowley96 BRONZE, Phoenix, Arizona
JBowley96 BRONZE, Phoenix, Arizona
1 article 0 photos 4 comments

No where to run since cash is low but the boy next door says he has something that could make a person feel happy, escape reality, and you do not even have to move an inch. Who would let an opportunity like that go to waste? Being somewhere that everything in life seems better than it is. With these substances life will have nowhere to go but up. The majority of people are naive to the real struggles that lead a person into the world of drugs; the economic problems, fitting into society, and family issues.

Economic problems can be a real life struggle that leads people into the drug world. Since at this point in time the economy is at a horrific downfall it makes money issues twice as bad. Jobs are limited so people may be stuck in an unemployed rut with low cash and decreasing hope. Being a teenager one does not have the upper hand with these situations. Getting gas money to go places is nearly impossible, so just give up and stay home. Going into drugs may also seem like a better investment at the time; between the 70 dollars spent at the day trip to a water park versus the 20 dollars spent for a week’s worth of happiness.

The majority of people are naive to the real struggles that lead you into the world of drugs; the real gateway to drugs is the pressure to fit into society. All a teenager sees is how the world should be skinny. Go on a diet, spend more time exercising, and get to listen to how obese America is being; that can really affect any person emotionally. For boys there is steroids to make you more muscular so that you are “swoll” (the slang word for very muscular) to your fellow male peers. Girls have more options to reach their goal of being a model: cocaine, ecstasy, heroin, pain killers. They could all make you lose weight drastically within a few days.

The party crowd is where the fun is at; indeed, everyone is chill, they will be accepting. Being an adolescent is a very challenging point in time and can cause people to feel out place and reach for acceptance. Unfortunately the cliché that is most likely to let you join would be the people that are associated with drugs and other poor choices. Then that creates a start of wrong decisions that spirals into a life that can lead you to a fatal rut.

Issues involved with one’s family may be a huge contributor to setting a person’s direction towards drugs. According to the SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) teen statistics for depression have increased with “problems at home/family (28.8%)” and overall “feeling depressed” at 50%. Home life can really make or break a young adult’s emotional stability. Parents that are too strict can be a shove in the wrong direction, for it may cause people to make poor decisions just in spite. Also, it could be the exact opposite reason and teenagers could be a participant in a broken home scenario. Forced to witness fighting and be in an environment filled with negativity.

Sadly, many people are also brought in drugs from the fact that a lot of families now have to watch the people closest to them partake in illegal paraphernalia. In America these days the chance of knowing someone whose life is being taken over by some sort of drug is quite high; “More than 28 million people are children of alcoholics” (Hope Networks website, copyright 2005, November 2, 2011). Which can bring you to conclude those kids have a higher risk and increased curiosity to try addictive substances or be driven by a lack of knowledge on the consequences of the actions that they see people partake in.

The life of a teenager is becoming seemingly more and more complex by the generation with huge issues that are impacting the whole population mentally and physically. Since being naive to the real struggles that lead you into the world of drugs has been becoming increasingly popular, people are unaware of the real problems; economic problems, fitting into societies standards, and family troubles. Without even the attempt to try and educate the majority of citizens blind to the realizations of this all the world will only continue to lose the brilliant minds of fellow peers to mind altering drugs and other substances.



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This article has 4 comments.


on Nov. 14 2011 at 11:31 pm
CinnamonBrickner BRONZE, Glendale, Arizona
2 articles 0 photos 10 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Rain, I don't mind, shine, the weathers fine." - John Lennon

Oh Jacey, your so immensly talented, and I envy you. This is amazing.

MariV said...
on Nov. 9 2011 at 10:00 am
Very impressive!!  This is an eye opener to reality and how much teens know about the real world & their surroundings. I underestimate teens on how much they know. As a parent it’s very scary!

linzbb said...
on Nov. 8 2011 at 8:46 pm
Wow.  Kinda scary, huh?!

gmagpa said...
on Nov. 8 2011 at 3:29 pm
This blew me away!!  Such insight. I'm very impressed!!