Many young people smoke and take drugs but what is the appeal of it? I've spoken to a young person who smokes cannabis about their thoughts and experiences and put together this article.
Every day 6,000 young people have their first cigarette. According to the British Medical Association, every year 120,000 people die from smoking-related illnesses. These statistics are shocking. People are educated about the dangers of substance abuse and smoking from a very young age, yet these figures show that the message just isn’t hitting home for many of them.
Factors such as peer pressure, depression or just the general pressures of life can lead to young people seeking drugs as an answer to their problems. Drugs are also seen by some to be exciting or relaxing. They are all too common at parties and are astoundingly accessible to people.
I spoke to a Year 11 student, who smokes tobacco and cannabis, about drug use. They said: “I used to be strongly opposed to drugs, but then I met a group of friends that did some drugs so I became more lenient. At first I took them out of curiosity, but then I enjoyed it, so I didn’t really see any strong reason not to because I wasn’t paying at the time. Then, as I started to smoke better cannabis, the high became better and I enjoyed it more so I started buying. I probably spend about £10 per week on it, but it can sometimes be as much as £40.”
They believe that there are some advantages to smoking cannabis: “I realise that my sanity may be at risk but, when I am really stressed, I find that cannabis calms me down a lot; it relaxes me, then it makes me happy. I find that I can relax about being myself more. I can also do things I normally wouldn’t dare do when I’m high. I’m a much more relaxed, calm person now because of it. There was a time when I was fairly violent, but now it takes a lot to make me violent.”
Cannabis can have devastating effects on a person’s health, with lung cancer being a huge killer. Smoking seems to have some social benefits, but do these really compensate for the damage it can do? “One of my friends who also takes drugs has become a lot more confident as a result of it and can stand up for himself.
“I’ve met a lot of people through doing drugs, whether it’s random people who also smoke cannabis or people that I knew already who smoked that I’ve become closer to since I also started.”
However, there are obviously disadvantages, like the addiction that comes with drugs. Even if a drug doesn’t contain addictive properties, a person can still get addicted to the feeling of being high. Our case study said: “I wouldn’t say I’m addicted, but then again who would admit to being addicted? I didn’t think I was addicted to nicotine until I had become dependent.”
What about the impacts drugs may have on society? One worry is that drug use leads to an increase in crime rates. “I think that ‘drugs’ is too general a term to talk about when it comes to crime rates. I think that cannabis brings people together on the whole, but I know people who do LSD and cocaine and that has got them into trouble before and has led to other crimes such as theft and fighting.”
Nevertheless, drugs do cause apathy which can lead to young people not gaining qualifications and, as a result, being unemployed later on in life. Unemployment is a cause of crime because people may get bored and, without money, they may turn to theft as a means of getting what they want.
This doesn’t deter some people from drugs, though: “I don’t regret starting to smoke cannabis because it has provided me with good times and brought me to some of my closest friends now.
“I would discourage younger people to do drugs as I think that this could lead to people doing it because it’s “cool” and I really don’t approve of that.”
March 12th is No Smoking Day. On this day, people who smoke are encouraged to quit. If you smoke, consider giving up for the sake of your health and that of those around you.
