Good afternoon. I’m here to tell you all about the effects of drugs on your young vital stage of development. I am not here to tell you what is right or wrong but I am here to educate you in order to help you make the right decision when faced with the prospect of drugs. Drugs may seem a surprising topic at this point in time, but very soon parties will start dominating your social life and drugs and alcohol will crawl themselves in. This is a result of experimentation, curiosity, peer pressure or purely just trying to look cool and grown up.
Young adulthood is the time in which you make mistakes and hopefully learn from. Drugs should not be one of them. I cannot say that none of you will ever try drugs because that would be untrue. 17%of students abuse drugs during the school day, 24% during the evening and 26% during the summer. Across the whole country 44% of students know someone who takes drugs often, these people are commonly known as; Druggies, Addicts, Social climbers, Depressed, Pushers, Junkies, Crack heads…. Is this what you want?
So what are drugs? Drugs are spilt into 4 categories- depressants, hallucinogens, opiates and stimulants. Depressants are drugs such as alcohol, roofies and valium. They slow normal brain function, despite their prescription for treatment for anxiety and sleep disorders, and can be highly addictive. The withdrawal affects from long term depressants can be life threatening and produce some of the worst consequences of any other drug classifications!
Hallucinogens are drugs such as marijuana, LSD and ecstasy which alter your thought processes, hearing, and sight. They can cause people to hear voices, see things, and feel sensations that do not exist. Hallucinogens are moderately addictive. Most of the risks of hallucinogen use are associated with the risk for personal injury and life-threatening accidents.
Opiates are opium based powerful painkillers such as heroin, morphine and codeine which are made