Cigarettes and Cocaine

At some point in my life, my family was talking about grown up stuff one day while I was sitting near there. Then I heard them start talking about their health and gossip about other relatives. Suddenly I heard, “It was so sad though, he said that he regretted not stopping earlier and that it was too late to change.” I was shocked and I looked over, “What are you talking about? Who said that?” They exchanged some debating glances, and finally my mom looked over to me, “Your uncle, he died some while ago.” I was confused. He was in good health, wasn’t he? Why had this happened all of a sudden happened? So I asked them, and they said, “Well he smoked a lot, and it was from lung cancer.” I didn’t understand death at that time, and over the years of growing up I heard many similar stories about our family dying from smoking. Grandpas, grandmas, uncles, uncle grandpas, the list went on. I had the same nagging question in my head, why did they all do it and they all ended up the same? Didn’t they seem to learn the consequences of doing it? Let’s be real here. I didn’t even know what smoking was. I only knew it was bad, and I was never going to do it in my life. That is the reason I learned about drugs, and wrote this article.

Drugs are chemicals that cause changes in your body, brain, or both. This happens when they interact with your neurotransmitters, causing chemical reactions. Teenagers do drugs for many reasons. Some are that they are trying to fit in, they are curious, they want to relax, and more. This causes them to begin experimenting and go through many stages, starting with some substances and going to the next, and this can continue until they begin using illegal drugs and they are addicted. If they don’t use them, they start getting withdrawal symptoms, causing them to get back to the addiction, so overall, drugs are pretty bad. Drugs have many different ways of being taken, and there are many types of drugs. They are stimulants, depressants, narcotics, hallucinogens, cannabis, and inhalants. They all have different effects, but one thing is for sure that they are very bad for you if they aren’t being used responsibly and for medical reasons. Two very well known drugs are cigarettes and cocaine.

Cigarettes

Cigarettes are small tubes of tobacco leaves wrapped in paper that people burn and inhale. The drug that tobacco has is nicotine. Nicotine falls into the depressant category, which are the type of drugs that depress and slow down nerve activity. It causes adrenaline to be released so people who smoke it are more alert at that moment. This later leads to increased blood pressure and lower skin temperature. Carbon monoxide and tars are released when nicotine is burned. The carbon monoxide and tars are what cause all the respiratory problems. Carbon monoxide sticks to your red blood cells and causes the person not to receive enough oxygen. Tars are particles that make a sticky substance form in the lungs and air vessels. All these things can lead to different diseases, such as lung cancer and many more. Tobacco cigarettes are the only ones that are legal. They are all highly addictive and have effects that lead to death.

Cocaine

Cocaine is a white powder that comes from the coca plant. It is highly addictive and the effects are felt quickly, but don’t last long. Cocaine falls into the stimulant category, which are the type of drugs that stimulate and speed up nerve activity. It causes hallucinations and paranoia. It is usually inhaled or snorted. Crack is a form of cocaine. It can also be smoked and its effects are even stronger than those of cocaine but they also last even shorter. The addiction to these drugs are seriously hard to break. They cause the user to have physical and psychological dependence on them, and they can result in death if they continue to use them. All drugs are also very expensive which can affect the users economic state.

Teenagers all over the world do drugs for many reasons, and whatever those reasons are they don’t have good effects. As a fellow teenager, I say that we have to resist against the use of these. There is absolutely no need to impress other people, and if you have friends that offer you any things that will affect your health, politely decline and be strong. Love yourself and do things to please yourself, not others. Also resist the curiosity of what it may feel like, because as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. As previously mentioned, I have negative relations to smoking. When I learn that someone dear I know smokes, it saddens me and there is nothing I can do about it, so I wanted to raise awareness. An interesting story my parents once told me was that, when they were dating, my dad used to smoke. This freaked me out a little, but then they said that, when my dad proposed to my mom, she stated that she would not marry a smoker. So, my dad literally stopped smoking on the spot for love, and I was surprised. I am so grateful for the life lessons that these experiences have brought me, and I hope that others will realize what I have too.

In conclusion, drugs are in no way good for anyone’s health without restriction and medical use. My family’s experience has been enough to prevent me from following in their footsteps. I wish nothing like this to happen to other teenagers, and I know what type of pressure were all going through, so we should keep fighting, stay healthy, and be true to ourselves so that we can live the rest of our lives to the fullest.