Bryson CASTRO
October 27, 2011
Marijuana
In a child’s teen years they are confronted with a variety of situation which include going to a new school, barrages of projects and the need to feel cool. The definition of “cool” to a teen could vary from being the jock on the football team or hanging with friend at a park smoking weed or marijuana. According the Monitoring the Future survey conducted by NIDA, 32.7% of sophomores admitted to using marijuana in their lifetime. Out of the 32.7% of teenagers, 26.6% of those individuals admitted to smoking the plant in the past year. Marijuana is hazardous to a teen’s health because it contains a chemical called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol or THC for short. THC is a harmful chemical, that when any person smokes marijuana, THC will rapidly flow into the lungs, through the bloodstream and into the brain. This compound affects the cannabinoid receptors in the brain that produces the “high” feeling that these teenagers feel. When these individuals feel high it is extremely dangerous to their physical and mental house because marijuana causes distorted thinking, impaired coordination, and difficulty making decisions. These teens are not in the right state of mind and could seriously injure themselves, friend, or an innocent bystander. In order to prevent or decrease the number of teenage marijuana users, youths who were previously apprehended for use or possession of marijuana should be required to join after school clubs, sports, or activities. Although filling a student’s time with after school activities, it does not guarantee that they will stop smoking weed. The government cannot obstruct any individuals during a person’s time at home and on the weekend. Middle school and high school students could still attain marijuana through other family members and friends. Some teenagers have been long time users of marijuana and could have formed an addiction to the drug. These individuals have probably discovered devious tricks and sly ways to attain the drug and keep it hidden from government officials.
However, by substituting a teenager’s after school time with an activity, club or sport, marijuana abusing students could find a liking to their new filled hours helping them to quit using marijuana. This could possibly prevent kids from landing in jail. Alby, a teen in Westchest , New York
Nevertheless, teens still could “buck the system”. Certain individuals could care less and ditch the mandatory consequence. Since marijuana affects a students ability to think straight and make logical decisions, choosing to attend an after school program could be hard for “high” teenagers. There are areas in the nation that students believe that life is so bad that they commit suicide. There are also areas in the nation that teenagers believe that jail is the best place for them. These types of individuals could have a hard time adjusting to going to a club or sport after school because they are so used to “cruising” with their friends or with the “cool guys”, and they have a defeated attitude; feeling as if they have nothing to lose.
On the other hand, filling in a students time with after school activities could also fill in the spiritual void in a teenager’s life. By having students join an after school club they could possibly make new friends. The acquaintances they meet during after school could hopefully replace and prevent the friendship of the negative influences that they used to “hang with”. In a National Survey of Drug Abuse and Health, 42.2% of teenagers who used marijuana smoked the drug because they were depressed. Referring back to Alby in the second paragraph, he smoked marijuana because he had lost his mom at the age of 14. He was also influenced by his “friends”. A club, such as Victory Club or Japanese Club, could have helped fill in the feeling of loss. If he had joined a sport, teammates could have assisted in coping with the loss of his mother.
Furthermore, marijuana abusers need to fill in a void in there physical or spiritual life. By requiring juvenile’s to join an after school program could help teenager’s who abused marijuana by filling in this void. Classmates, club members, and teammates can help these individuals to see that there are different ways to cope with their problems than marijuana.
