I beg every teenager that comes to this website, to say "no" to drugs. You have more influence on your friends and peers than you could imagine. It all starts with the thought that either it's cool to do drugs or you can just do it once without it affecting you. Drugs have a terribly strong hold on those who fall to them. There are so many teens who o.d. every year. They didn't think that doing a small ammount of drugs would ruin their lives, but you can see what happens to them all. That fate could be our friends'. We could save their lives if we would just take a stand! Be a different teen! Make a difference in your friends lives!
heres mt take, marijuana is inly a gateway drug if the person has significant issues that theyre going through, in which case marijuana is of course the first drug they do and because it doesnt give euphoria they move on to stronger substances. however i know many people, even past meth and heroin addicts that saw marijuana as almost a saving entity in their lives, it let them feel a little bit of what they needed to feel, meaning it served as a non destructive crutch and from that they never we... (more »)
PoeticBliss228
Leave marijuana out of this. It isn't a drug, and to be honest, it's wonderful. If you really want to save lives abolish alcohol and save the 75,000 lives the abuse of it claims every year
Where in that article did it say the word "marijuana?"
CaravanaI don't know how pot came into the picture here but you have your opinion on that and the author has theirs. I will say that I have done that before in my life and it did ruin my life it formed a habit I use to not think it was a drug either but it became a bad habit that I depended on to get through all of life's problems and that's not right. To the author good job :).
emolover95I disagree. Yes Marijuana isn't as harmful at first, but it's a gateway drug. That means it's just the start of the users future drug use. Marijuana leads to more harmful drugs that really do destroy your life. So in essence, all drugs destroy the life of the user.
there is no evidence of this claim though the claim is made quite often. I know plenty of people who smoke pot and have for years and don't "gateway" to more powerful drugs. This claim would also be impossible to prove or measure. Just because someone who smokes marijuana tries a different drug how would we accurately attribute that to their use or marijuana? If they were offered it and they had never smoked pot, how do we know they wouldn't have said yes then? A big majority of our parents smok... (more »)
I respect your opinion, but yes marijuana is a gateway drug. I have seen it ruin people's lives. It's not something you want to mess with. My brother started with marijuana and know he's into harder drugs such as heroin and crystal meth. He started with pot and now his life is ruined. He is currently in jail and in and out of foster care. So, perhaps not everyone gets into harder drugs, but I believe that marijuana is and always will be a gateway drug.
And I smoke pot along with many of my friends. Just because you or your brother decided to start taking other drugs doesn't mean you can try to blame marijuana for that transition. That was a choice made by someone, so you can "beleive" whatever you want. Someone who smokes weed may be more likely to try other drugs but that is a result of the person not marijuana. That person is probably more open to try drugs in general. Marijuana does not cause soeone to try other drugs therefore I do. This c... (more »)
Marijuana didn't ruin your brother's life. Your brothers choice to use heroin and crystal meth ruined his life let's not use pot as a scape goat or an objectto place our blame
I stick by what I said because I've seen it first hand. But clearly because you have personal experience with this it is clouding your judgement and we will get no further. I cannot say anything than what I've experienced and I still say that drugs ruin your life.
Responsibility is the name of the game. Weed is not responsible for people's decisions and it is not a drug. It may be an illegal substance, but it's not a drug. Drugs are man made or have underwent significant chemical altercations.
And by the way, I know many people who smoke weed (adults and teens) and who lead perfectly normal, happy lives. And I know even more who smoked when they were younger and just stopped when they got older because they had kids or got too busy, etc. Weed doesn't ruin your life thats just a ignorant statement and the evidence against it is all around.
To PoeticBliss228:
Admittedly, I have not done research, so I don't have the exact statistics to give to you. Nor do I have the time to conduct this research, as I have other, more important things to be doing in my life. However, I can tell you with complete certainty that there have been studies done and surveys taken that show that marijuana is a gateway drug. It may not be in all of the cases, but in many cases, it is. Anyone who has taken a middle- or high-school health class can ... (more »)
Well type it into google and good luck. But my point was that it is truly impossible to measure something like that because it would be based on a hypothetical situation... that being, if the person had not smoked pot would they still have ended up on a harder drug? There would be no way to know. Also you have to take into account that marijuanan is an illegal substance and a person willing to try one illegal substance is probably more likely to try others statistically, but that doesn't mean th... (more »)
to PoeticBliss228: actually, if you Google the definition of drugs, it will say "a substance that has a psychological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body, in particular." therefore, marijuana is a drug. also, marijuana definitely is a gateway drug. eventually it will not be enough. and there is absolutely NOTHING responsible about taking any kind of drug. if you aren't responsible enough to say no to pot but are "responsible" enough to say no to harder drugs, you are ... (more »)
Fat guy said...
May 28, 2011 at 2:08 pm:
May 28, 2011 at 2:08 pm:
Teens arent the only poeple who start doing drugs too. Kids are curious
DylanBaugherNot all drugs are bad.. it really depends on what drugs you are refering to. Marijuana is less harmful then alcohol and smoking. i dont personally partake because it is not healthy by any standard. But i dont think it can ruin your life. Meth and cocain on the other hand can, in my opinion
PrincessSparkleNot one death was recorded ever for marijuana use. EVER. People say it's a drug but really, it's safer than drinking alcohol by a long shot and smoking cigarettes.
People tend to say "Oh, you can get addicted." WRONG!
Anyone who stops using marijuana will not feel the withdrawls or symptoms someone would have when they quit smoking or drinking.
Specify which drugs your talking about. Then, maybe try a different approach.
HisPurePrincess
stiffy69 said...
Mar. 15, 2011 at 5:12 pm:
Mar. 15, 2011 at 5:12 pm:
drugs are good evry one should use them look at me i have strait a's and really helthy
AnonymousFattyIt's funny because spiritualrevelationrevealspainandrevolution doesn't even know you're supposed to capitalize the first letter of a sentence. Be less stupid please.
HelloKarissa It's not a shock you have straight A's with that astounding grammar of yours. <--- That was me, being facesious.
Haha drugs are only bad if you're doing the wrong ones, with the wrong people, at the wrong time, for the wrong reasons. There are plenty of times it's perfectly fine, even better than, say legal drugs like Oxycontin, or even alcohol.
When you say don't do drugs, you should specify which ones, and why, and back it with scientific knowledge. Because there are reasons to not take drugs, and reasons to take them.... It's all very personal.
1. you're isnt spelled ur
2. this is not a poem, by anyones standards
3. youre insulting someone for taking a different but not too extreme take on the issue
if somebody didnt know better i would say you're doing more drugs than the person you insulted
petercThey didn't take any of the stances you spoke of in your criticism. This is the opinion forum, and everyone has an opinion. Singlenote was offering constructive criticism, whereas you not-very-subtly insulted them. Let everyone have their own opinion.
sorry, either the person who commented on a single notes post deleted their comment or i misslpaced it, but no, i agree with single note just not comment from some other user that used to be right after it
MarilynV.all i got to say is that drugs are degrading and eating up people very quickly just because they think thats a tactic to take them off their misery...they are wrong!
pretty rave girl said...
Dec. 13, 2010 at 3:42 pm:
Dec. 13, 2010 at 3:42 pm:
YOU ARE RIGHT CUZ ITS UR CHOICE BUT U R GOING 2 MESS UP UR LIFE AND CREATE A BAD INFLUENCE TO EVERY1
Sis94ya people are going to mess up in one way or another just be a leader and not a follower.Because when you have kids and they find out about they are going to think (well mom and dad did why can't i. they will think.) so don't follow people let people follow you be the leader
teenpoet8
i love dcs said...
Dec. 10, 2010 at 9:00 am:
Dec. 10, 2010 at 9:00 am:
i am also going to be clean for life and i dont know why they even made drugs or alcohol.
IndigoWillowsunI have this weird ambivalence towards this subject. In a way, I don't even care anymore.
Isn't that sad?
I suppose it has to do with the people I hang out with, the authors I read, the things I've witnessed, the heart I've put into someone's recovery and subsequent relapse.
I feel terrible about my lack of interest, which is probably why I took the time to comment, but...
I totally agree -- I plan to be clean for life -- but a lot of the drugs people take aren't illegal ones. Ever heard of Ritalin? Adderall? Those can both get you high, but they're frequently prescribed to little kids. Every time you take antibiotics or painkillers you're taking a drug. Hate to break it to you, but even Tylenol is a drug -- it's just a very safe one.
So is marijuana, so why would you not take that?
SemiVeggie was talking about legal drugs... Last time I checked, marijuana isn't legal.
love09 said...
Oct. 15, 2010 at 2:13 pm:
Oct. 15, 2010 at 2:13 pm:
i agree to the fullest on this us as teenagers get so addicted to the littlest things, and then we end up getting addicted, which for us is smoking. so once we see our friends doing it we then end up trying it and getting addicted, it like a sick sick drug that you cant run away from.
Don Draper said...
Oct. 15, 2010 at 2:06 pm:
Oct. 15, 2010 at 2:06 pm:
Doing drugs isn't cool. Remember just because a majority of people do something doesn't always make it write. Don't forget that a majority of the American people once supported slavery. Remember you are who you chose to be.
Hugh_JassI just want to say this, if you do drugs once, it is probably not going to mess you up. What people are telling kids is that some horrible thing is going to happen when you do drugs. So when kids try it and nothing bad happens, they think that drugs can't hurt them. I think we should just be truthful about the whole matter. Rather than tainting kids thoughts with lies.
Mia_Stinetuck"Our national drug is alcohol. We tend to regard anything less with a special kind of horror" ~ William S. Burroughs
You have no idea how different the world would be if no one ever smoked pot, opium, drank cocaine or dropped acid and blew thier mind with shrooms do you? At least no more then our free media and libreal education declares.
And I hate to break it too you, but we are a druggie society. "Pharmaceutical companies will soon rule the world i... (more »)
NotForSqauresI personally think this article needs revision. The term "drug" covers a very broad spectrum. It is easiest if you single out a drug, such as marijuana. Also, I advise you to research the topic a bit more before stating "drugs are bad." I am not a regular drug user myself, but I have done my fair share of research and I'd like to clear up some common misconceptions. There are little to no confirmed deaths from just the use of marijuana. While it can affect your health, (I read Sha... (more »)
Sorry for such a long comment. I didn't realize it was so long. Oh, and to the writer: I appreciate the message you are sending, just try researching ahead of time.
Just to let everyone know, drugs and the user are 2 different things. A person who does drugs can be a good person at heart. Just because you do drugs doesn't mean you are a crackhead and should be avoided.
Hailezzluvturtlesthen you should think about the people avoiding you and thinking your a crackhead before you decide to ruin your health, life... etc.
Hippiechick10You're totally right. Drugs ruin everything, turning hopes and dreams to dust. At my school, police officers come in and tell us stories of kids and adults who use drugs. It's heartbreaking and sad. Don't throw your life away to look cool or be "popular" on drugs. Stay safe and alive. Great point you made.
Join the Discussion
This article has 114 comments. Post your own!