Drugs And Teenagers Essays - Drug Culture, Entheogens,

Drugs and Teenagers Drug use is the increasing problem among teenagers in today's high schools. Most drug use begins in the preteen and teenage years, these years most crucial in the maturation process. During these years adolescents are faced with difficult tasks of discovering their self identity, clarifying their sexual roles, assenting independence, learning to cope with authority and searching for goals that would give their lives meaning. Drugs are readily, adolescents are curious and venerable, and there is peer pressure to experiment, ad there us a temptation to escape from conflicts. The use of drugs by teenagers is the result of a combination of factors such as peer pressure, curiosity, and availability. Drugs addiction among adolescents in turn lead to depression and suicide. One of the most important reasons of teenage drug usage is peer pressure. Peer pressure represents social influences that effect adolescents, it can have a positive or a negative effect, depending on person's social group and one can follow one path of the other. We are greatly influenced by the people around us. In today's schools drugs are very common, peer pressure usually is the reason for their usage. If the people in your social group use drugs there will be pressure a direct or indirect pressure from them. A person may be offered to try drugs, which is direct pressure. Indirect pressure is when someone sees everyone around him using drugs and he might think that there is nothing wrong with using drugs. Person might try drugs just to fit in the social norms, even if a person had no intentions of using drugs one might do it just to be considered "cool" by his friends. Today drugs are considered to be an acceptable social phenomenon by many teenagers. Here is a personal example o f drug use from a teenager, " When I started using, was only on weekends, at parties. I used drugs 'recreationally' and therefore thought I had no addiction problem. I used drugs like nicotine, marijuana or LSD to be happy or to have fun. I needed drugs. I kept using drugs; I used drugs like marijuana to fit socially. I had problems in my life, emotionally, that drugs only seemed to solve. Drugs made my problems worse. I started snorting cocaine. I injected heroin into my veins. I almost died. I was addicted" In today's highs schools the availability and variety of drugs is widespread. There is a demand for drugs and the supply is plentiful. Since drugs are so easy accessible, a natural interest in them may develop. A person may hear about drugs experiences, on reactions of drug usage, such as " Hey the weed that he sold us was cool, I got stoned man". This response will create a sense of curiosity and may convince the person to try drugs themselves. Many teenagers today believe that the first use of drugs is safe. However even though there is no instant addiction with the first try, youngsters tend to experiment further. Soon a person could actively seek the euphoric effects of drugs. Drug addiction is the result of intense preoccupation with the dicer to experience the mental and bodily changes with drug use. The final and the most disastrous stage are when a person needs drugs in order to function adequately. Therefore availability, curiosity and experimentation could result in drug ad diction among teenagers. One of the most devastating side effects of drug addiction and abuse is depression. Depression is the result of chemical imbalance, environmental influence, or a combination of both. Using heavy and very highly addictive drugs as heroin, cocaine, opium and many other will cause sudden mood changes, deterioration of the immune system, nervous breakdowns, unusual flares of temper and many other side effects. Besides physical side effects, drug addiction can create problems in a person's social circles. The person may run into many conflicts with his family and friends, resulting in desire for isolation. This in turn will create more problems since the person will have no social support. Furthermore, drug addiction is a financial strain especially for teenagers. When a person is addicted to drugs he will do anything to obtain money to fulfill his needs. According

Dred scott vs. Sanford case essays

Dred scott vs. Sanford case essays The Dredd Scott vs. Sanford case is about a Missouri slave who sued his owner for his freedom. The case stirred because his former owner took Scott an army surgeon, by the name of Dr. Emerson. When sold to Sanford by his former the issue erupted on whether or not he was still a slave. Sanford argued that Scott is not a citizen of the Missouri territory because he is of African descent. Since Africans were brought over and sold as slaves, Sanford argues that Scott was never free. Scott is also accusing Sanford of assaulting his wife and children. Sanford justifies this by saying that he laid his hands on them and imprisoned them lawfully since they were slaves. The case would never have been seen or heard if in previous court history a decision was not declared, that state courts determined the status of Negroes who lived within their jurisdiction.(Norton p.391) The Supreme Court had only this precedent to follow. The court eventually ruled on the Missouri Compromise. The case was brought to court in May 1854 and Sanford was found guilty. The case appealed and the court reargued the decision in 1855 and the defendant was found not guilty. The Constitutional questions that arose were very controversial issues at the time like: Was a black person like Dredd Scott a citizen of the United States and was he eligible to sue in Federal court? Had residence in a free state or free territory made him free? Did congress have the power to prohibit slavery in a territory or to delegate that power to territorial legislature? The selection of the constitution that the Supreme Court revered to in its decision (I think) was Article III Section II. During the time this decision was made the Supreme Court was undergoing changes in the different branches of government. The Supreme Court justices were normally reluctant to inject themselves into political issues and it seemed likely that the court would st...