Position Paper 1 My Name Course name and number Your 16 year old comes into the house after attending a party, smelling of cigarettes and marijuana....

My Name

Course name and number

Your 16 year old comes into the house after attending a party, smelling of cigarettes and marijuana.

Not a true situation for me.

Smoking among youth has long been a public problem. Nowadays many adolescence who are trying cigarettes or marijuana, over time become addicted. Also smoking rather it be cigarettes or marijuana has very serious consequences for the health of a young person. “Adolescents are at higher risk from substance abuse than adults because of the way their brains respond to those substances. The brain undergoes major development all through adolescence and continues into the mid- to late 20s. A person develops the capacity for vision, movement and coordination well before what we call the "executive functions" of self-control, planning, rational decision-making or judgment.” (September, 2012). Quitting smoking is very difficult and many people do not succeed, so it is important to respond quickly to the suspicion that your child has tried those stimulants.

Young people who reach for cigarettes, usually wants to impress their peers. They think they look more mature when holding a cigarettes. They count on the acceptance of the environment. Sometimes in a company where smoking is the norm, a non-smoker is exposed to mockery and exclusion from the group. Very often children who are reaching for cigarettes or marijuana do not find themselves in reality - they do not stand out, they deal badly with failures in school and among their peers. In their case the cigarettes or marihuana is supposed to compensate for all the gaps. Teenagers growing up with depression and anxiety tend to lend on marijuana to get them out of their different moods and make them feel better about themselves. There are a lot of signs and symptoms from teenagers who abuse drugs and also who have a drug addiction problem. “Any teenager who suffers from severe anxiety or depression has been found to be at higher risk for substance abuse. A family history of anxiety or depression also puts your child at higher risk. Obviously, treating the depression must be a high priority, but recognizing the higher risk of substance abuse is also important.” (Substance Abuse in Teenagers). Young smokers questioned about the cause of smoking cigarettes claim that smoking calms and relaxes them. It is true that teenage life is difficult and stressful. Cigarettes help them to recover, deal with stress and failure. Researchers point out that nicotine dependency is more susceptible to young people with a tendency to depression and aggressive behavior. It has been estimated that anxiety can accompany them for up to 45-60% of the time, and that means they have to live with it every day. This makes them more likely to seek solace in nicotine addiction.

Another very important cause of youth smoking is easy access to cigarettes and a pattern passed on to the family. A child who is raised among smokers often makes a habit of consenting to such behavior. It seems to him that cigarettes are not bad. Besides, the habit of tobacco smoke makes the first experience with a cigarette not as negative as it is for children who are not used to it. In addition, the child often imitates the parents in everything they do. So if they smoke, why he would not smoke?

Cigarette smoking destroys the young organism. Keep in mind all harmful cigarette smoke components, such as: ammonia, cyanide or formaldehyde. Nicotine itself is responsible for the addiction to cigarettes. At high doses, however, it is a strong poison. In person body, enough as 70 milligrams of nicotine can cause death. Cigarette smoking weakens the immune system and increases susceptibility to disease. There is a link between smoking and cardiovascular disease, stroke and heart failure. There is also no doubt that smoking cigarettes is conducive to the development of cancer, especially lung cancer. It also reduces the smoker's life and reduces the quality of the smoker. The earlier you start smoking, the worse the consequences for the health and life of the smoker. People who started smoking before the age of 15 and smoked 20-30 cigarettes a day, live on average 8 years shorter.

Damaging side effects may be present when smoking marijuana but it is often found that smoking three joints is similar to smoking twenty cigarettes in relation to the harmful effects that both present. Marijuana smoke contains fifty to seventy percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke. “The use of marijuana can cause anxiety, depression, fast heart rate, lung damage, increased risk of heart attacks, and suicidal thoughts” (Biehl, 2015). Also it have significant effects on the brain, including impairing memory and coordination. Marijuana causes the heart to beat up to forty times more per minute. This can cause heart attacks or heart failure. Approximately 1% of all heart attack victims suffer their heart attacks on the same day as using marijuana and .2% of victims say that they smoked marijuana within one hour of their attack. Lastly, research demonstrates that marijuana has the potential to cause problems in daily life or make a person’s existing problems even worse. “In one study, heavy marijuana abusers reported that the drug impaired several important actions of life accomplishment, including physical and mental health, career status and social life. Several studies linked marijuana smoking with increased nonappearances, sluggishness, accidents, etc.” (Abuse, N. I.).

Eliminating nicotine or marijuana addiction is becoming increasingly important. The fight against addiction is extremely difficult, so it is best to eliminate the problem before it even comes out. Parents should take initiative when finding out that their children taking drugs or have been on drugs for a substantial amount of time. I believe that primary parents should establish a system of consequences for the teenager’s actions. Parents must enforce to their children that drugs come with consequences but not where it is too implausible and can’t be executed. Mother and father must be on the same page when it comes to the implementing of rules. Parents must know the whereabouts of what their teenagers are up to at all times from location to their peers.

References:

Abuse, N. I. (n.d.). Marijuana. Retrieved July 04, 2017, from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana

Biehl, J. R., & Burnham, E. L. (2015). Cannabis Smoking in 2015: A Concern for Lung Health? Chest, 148(3), 596-606. doi:10.1378/chest.15-0447

September 2012. (n.d.). Retrieved July 06, 2017, from http://healthcarenews.com/youth-substance-abuse-still-a-serious-problem/

Substance Abuse in Teenagers. (n.d.). Retrieved July 04, 2017, from http://www.pedsforparents.com/general/103136/substance-abuse-in-teenagers/