Approximately 500,000 people die every year due to substance abuse. Yet people still take drugs and drink alcohol regardless of the consequences.
“People take drugs for a variety of reasons,” Debbie Conover, coordinator of Student Health Services, said. “They have a lot of stress, it makes them look cool, they are bored and believe drugs will help, they heard it has medical benefits and think it will help them fit in.”
Five of the most popular substances taken by students today are marijuana, Ecstasy, Oxycontin, Speed and alcohol.
Marijuana is the most common substance that students start off using and has been said to lead to the use of other drugs as well.
Effects of marijuana include problems with memory and learning, distorted perception, trouble with thinking and problem solving, loss of motor coordinating, increased heart rate, and anxiety, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
“I would just start off smoking weed with my friends,” Justin, business major, said. “It eventually opened my mind to trying different things to experiment with what it would feel like. Marijuana was the main one, but it eventually led me to prescription pills like Xanax and Oxycontin. Then that led to hallucinogens like Mushrooms and LSD, which led to Ecstasy, the worst possible one to take.”
Although Ecstasy has its pleasurable effects, it also has devastating side effects, including heart failure, kidney failure, hypertension and damage to the brain’s serotonin system according to the NIDA.
Like marijuana, Oxycontin can be an effective pain reliever.However, when people overdose on this prescription pill, it can lead to respiratory failure and even death.
Speed is a little different from the other substances. Whereas even small doses of it can result in increased wakefulness, increased physical activity, decreased appetite, increased respiration, rapid heart rate, irregular heartbeat, increased blood pressure and hyperthermia, according to the NIDA.
The drug of choice that people tend to forget about is alcohol. People tend to forget about it because it is so much a part of our culture. However, alcohol can lead to permanent heart, liver, kidney and brain damage, neurological disorders, memory loss, decreased sex drive, cirrhosis and increased risk of liver cancer, pancreatitis and depression, according to the Metropolitan Drug Commission.
Alcohol is especially dangerous when taken with other substances.
“My friend took cocaine and drank alcohol at the same time, which resulted in him going into cardiac arrest and to the Emergency Room. It was not pretty,” Jason, nursing major, said.
Many drugs have different health risks and consequences. One consequence that remains the same is that drug users can eventually become dependent on drugs and the mental need to want more and more can always be there, according to abovetheinfluence.com
“It’s pointless, you know?” Jason said. “For marijuana for example, you smoke, you get high, laugh, eat and sleep. How many hours have you wasted? Weed is supposed to be a herb. Some drugs are actually supposed to help you, like Oxycontin, not to get high on. You get retarded, you get sad and you get lazy. Drugs are lame.”