Free Essay Sample - Drug and Substance Use As a Teenager

The use of drugs among teens is a big challenge that has been there in the world for decades while its rate is increasing day in day out. The drug is a force that is persuading in the society that we are living in today. Drug and substance abuse has destroyed approximately 40 per cent of teenagers in America. For this paper I am going to give my personal experience with drug and substance use as a teenager with the idea that drug should be considered as a bad thing this purely the decision that I took as a teenager, outlining the causes of the drug and substance taking.

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Teenagers may feel the need to use drugs in order to be in the same boat with their friends who are addicts, another cause for the use of the drugs is the easy accessibility of the drugs by the teens, also drugs can be used as teenagers in order to show their rebellion in the society and curiosity is another reason why youths use drugs and substances of which they know very well it is harmful to their health and academic performance. Drug and substance abuse have a lot of effects on the body and the health of teenagers who use these drugs.

Most of the teenagers in America use drugs without the knowledge of their guardians and parents. For instance, a teenager who usually goes to school early in the morning and returns late in the evening may decide not to go to school and go to a place where he or she will meet with the friends and take drugs both in liquor and the one for smoking. Since in our society, the parents view drug taking and substance abuse as a bad thing but not researching the leading cause for their children to take drugs as for my case.

The journey of drug and substance abuse begun on one Friday last year when I had come back from school and found my mother had just arrived from the court to hear the case of my father who had been arrested with a case of robbery with violence and had been sentenced to jail for two years full time serving the penitentiary. This information was a significant blow to me since I had loved my father so much, and he used to be there for me before his arrest.

I went into my cubicle changed my attire and slept. I remember very well on one weekend I went into my room, hid a mini skirt and a crop top together with my sunglasses and high heels in my backpack, when my mother and my stepfather had gone to sleep I sneaked from our home through the window and went to meet my friends at our agreed meeting point and we headed to the Green Height Club for an overnight dance using one of my friends car, while I was driving I could see young girls and boys on the streets smoking and standing in pairs of opposite sex.

I started taking drugs as my own decision. As a form 2 student, I turned into a new leaf and began using drugs which included heroin, alcohol, bhang, marijuana, among others. I used even to smoke cigarettes. I started using drugs and substances since I felt that they could make me relieved and feel better since I was so significantly depressed. Depression is a production of influences from the environment and chemicals not balancing in the body. I used to use drugs and alcohol to get emotional anaesthesia. I used to take these drugs when I used to think about my imprisoned father, who has never been there for me entirely since he was usually in and out of my life and that of my family. He used to be arrested several times, and most of his time, he was in prison.

My mother was very busy with her business deals, contracts and out of country travels to meet business partners, and most of the times I used to stay with the workers at our home when I am not in school. The time she was at home, she used to go out with her friends to have fun on Dwell beach. As a teenage girl in the adolescent stage, my body was undergoing several changes, both physical, emotional and emotional, and I had no one who would direct me. I remember the first time I had my menses I was at home with our guard only my mother was not at home when I looked at my legs and saw blood flowing in my legs I went running and screaming towards where our guard was since in my mind I thought my veins had busted.

Our guard laughed at me because he knew this was a normal thing but to me as a first-time experience I knew nothing and my mother was not there to educate me on the changes that I was undergoing as a teen. I felt embarrassed and ashamed by this incidence because, at times, the guard could see me and ask me, "Have you not died?" And he will laugh sarcastically.

I was so depressed by the fact that my father was imprisoned, I had a hard academic experience since I was not performing very well in class and each time the teacher would come in the classroom he or she would use me as an example of a poor performer. As I walked through the streets, people used to point fingers at me," look at her, she is the daughter of the robber." I used to feel embarrassed, and my dignity lowered. I lost almost all my good friends since their parents were warning them against our company with them, most of the time I was alone. When I used to report this cases to my mother she used to tell me to ignore them they mean nothing to you, they don't even pay your fees, but I was having a heavy heart.

I had no place that I had peace, even in my own home. I then decided to take comfort in drugs and substance abuse. I used to take alcohol and cigarettes in the toilet so that my mother could not notice at first. I could come from school and lock myself in the washroom for an hour while taking the drugs; I used to buy the pills from my friends that were selling the drugs using the money that my mother used to give me when I go to purchase personal effects.

I continued taking drugs while hiding from my mother who in most time, she was not at home. My academic performance deteriorated so much. My mother was summoned to school several time, and she was too busy to attend those meeting with the school administration. I remember there was a time she had travelled to India for business. My class teacher sends me home to her, but she was nowhere. I decided that I would not go to school until she is back. I stayed at home for a whole week; this was an excellent chance for me since I used to invite my fellow drug users to our home. We used to drink all day all night. When she came back from India, and I informed her that she was needed at school, she responded that I should go to school by myself and if I don't want to go, I should stay at home because it is not education only that makes a person to live a happy and prosperous life.

I felt downcasted since, in my entire life, I wanted to become a neurosurgeon and help those patients with heart problems. This response made me cry day and night since I could not go to school alone without her. I had no other option; my friends became the drugs that I used to take. I was not taking any meal except nyamachoma and alcohol. I stayed at home for a whole term without going to school. My mother decided to take me back to school after my stepfather questioned her why I am not going to school.

I was taken back to school. I used to fall into mistakes back at school; I did not have any respect for the teachers because I was taking drugs early in the morning before I could go to school. The drugs made me see what I was doing as of right and was not a mistake. My esteem was lowered because the teachers in my school used to view me as a failure, whenever a question was asked in class, I could not answer it .whenever the teacher selected me to try and give a response the whole level would burst into laughter hence I could not respond.

I remember there was a time I used to use hallucinogens to boost my moods to be pleasurable, making me be high spirited so that I could engage in any talk with anyone. I became addicted to drugs to an extent I could not go to school without taking the drugs, which were against the school laws. I was found in several instances in possession of alcohol and cigarettes in my school bag to an extent I was expelled from school, and I was given an expulsion letter, and my name was deleted from the school registration system that I how drug and substance use ruined my dream of being a surgeon one day.

With an expulsion letter, I could not join any other school since I was not in a position to get a transfer letter which is mandatory before any transfer. I dropped out of school in Form 2 and became a full-time drug user. Since there is nothing else I could have done since the parents that I was living with were only interested in making wealth, attending business treaties and seminars while my stepfather could not even think of questioning my behaviours because most of the times I used to stay in my room while it was locked.

The level depression increased, as a result, I started using depressants such as ethanol, opioid, cannabis, sleeping pill also alcohol which could slow down the activities that were happening in my mind, lead to a reduction in the way my brain was functioning since I was in a great depression. The depressants used to make me feel relaxed, and I could even sleep for a whole day and night, I felt that everything was okay, and I had no worries whenever I used depressants.

Weekend parties and night clubs became the order of events. We used to go to Green Height club with my friends to have fun, drink and dance to the high pitched music in the club. Along our way towards the club, we used to see teens of our age walking in pairs dressed half naked. The club attendants and the bouncers could not even question us as we entered the club, we had all the freedom that we needed. I remember there was a day one of the bar attendants had refused to sell alcohol to me, and the manager of the club was there and made an order that I should be given the type of drink that I want, with an extra bottle for being mistreated. At a tender age, without even an identification card, I could spend the whole night in the club since it used to make me feel at peace since my mother and stepfather were not there for me.

I became a drug addict to an extent I could not do anything without taking drugs.I used to inject myself since the drugs I was taking at times I felt they were not working the way I wanted them to work out. I could go to a chemist and buy syringes, and at times I used to visit a hospital make friendship with the pharmacists especially the male gender who could, in turn, be giving me the syringe for free.

Drug addiction made me clumsy, dirty and disorganised. My room was full of dirt since I did not even have time for cleaning my room or also taking a bath. I only took a shower in the form of the passport where I could be my face, hands and legs change my clothes and apply to make up and leave the unarranged room clothes scattered in the floor of my cubicle. I had become a drug addict to the extreme where I could no longer hide while taking them. It was in October when my mother has conned her business investments and was now not going to work is when she became aware that I was a drug addict.

She was too stressed with her business issues and paid little attention to my well-being as a drug addict. A hopeless teenage who had a bright future that had now been destroyed by drug and substance abuse. In conclusion, my decision to take drug was solemnly mine because of depression and loneliness that I had .my father being imprisoned and my mother being so committed with her business issues.