http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23432385-2862,00.html
http://mentalhealth.about.com/b/2003/08/22/more-drug-use-in-bored-rich-and-stressed-teens.htm
Drug use isn’t just for poor people. A recent study indicates that teens with 21-60 dollars a week disposable income were 60 per cent more likely to have used drugs in the past year than those with 20 dollars or less. Also students who had more than 60 dollars were more than twice as likely to have used drugs than those with only 20 dollars. Also students with 25 or more dollars a week were more than twice as likely to get drunk. This defies the common misconception that drugs are for the poor. It also opens up a fact that we must realize as drugs are now in all parts of our society.
However in my own personal view drugs are not necessarily a bad thing. The reason people think that drugs are bad is because they are told that they are bad. If somone can use them safely and responsibly then its up to every individual to decide for themselves wether or not it is something that they wish to experience. We need to realize that all the anti drug messages arent working kids use drugs anyways and will continue to use them. We need to come to the realization that drugs have always been a part of our society and that trying to remove them alltogether is impossible we need to try to tame it and incorporate it into our society as many people use drugs and will continue to use drugs wether or not you approve of their behavior.
The study also shows that many teens use drugs not because of problems but out of bordem.
March 26, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Drugs are bad if you make them bad.
I agree with you that the use of drugs is not a problem until we make the problem.
Peoples use of drug should be viewed as a law breaker but more of a call for help so when we see our teens getting high, when we see our youth calling out to use we need to help them not push a
“Say No to drugs sign”
You said (typed) ” The study also shows that many teens use drugs not because of problems but out of boredom.”
-This is true but it’s also the thrill one could receive from doing something that they aren’t supposed to do. The legalization you also motioned would be one of the best things that could occur in our current world.
Like you said “drugs are now in all parts of our society. “
March 26, 2008 at 3:42 pm
drugs can and can’t be a problem. its only in the way they are used. i don’t believe in gateway drugs but i do believe in addiction. and you could get addicted to anything if you wanted to. possibly drugs are out of bordom but also dont withdraw the people who rely on drugs everyday for the wrong reasons.
March 26, 2008 at 3:48 pm
ummm so theres so many more ways to get drugs these days. Rich people obviously arent the only ones who can get drugs. you can steal drugs and even grow drugs. I myself wouldnt want to do drugs because i dont have enough money to have an addiction to something.
March 26, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Drugs are obviously a problem in our society but of course its not just the “poor people” that do drugs that’s a known fact not an opinion. Honestly, it’s up to the people themselves if they want to make that decision or not to put themselves in that predicament.
March 27, 2008 at 5:56 pm
Frankly, this doesnt surprise me. Drugs, like consumer products, cost money, so therefor, one would need money to aquire them. While there are other ways of getting drugs, money is the most conventional way.
Honestly though, people should use drugs at their own descrestion? Serious? The reason drugs are illegeal is because people ARENT able to use them safely. And even if people could use drugs “responsily”, theyre “bad” because of the residual brain and respiratory damage they cause.
March 27, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Drugs….have never been only for the poor they have always been for everyone. Think of the indians? what about the chinese? Opium, marijuana, payote, mushrooms, all of these drugs have been for centuries…millions and millions of years. The cave men probably did drugs too! I totally agree that drugs should be tamed and brought into society like cigarettes and alcohol. It is very true that people will use drogs no matter what the government says..think about it the only reason drugs are illegal is so the government can make money off of the people who get caught!
March 30, 2008 at 5:39 am
None of this seems vastly revolutionary. I didn’t really learn anything new by reading this post.
Drugs are not necessarily “a poor man’s problem” – at least, not initially. It is more likely that the obsessive purchase of drugs that led to poverty in the first place.
I can understand that it’s a person’s choice. I know people who do things I wouldn’t and I still respect them a lot. But when it comes to the real world of capitalism, if you want to succeed, you need a stable income. If most of your money fuels an addiction and the physiological effects of drugs lead to a reduced income (since you cannot always perform higher-duty tasks or have been too lazy to get a proper degree due to other focuses). So, indirectly, the drug issue could be a key contributor to the poverty problem, which is a HUGE problem in America.
If people know how to control themselves, it can be slightly less of a problem. But with some things, that control is not always as easy as you would think. You can prepare all you want for the consequences, but that doesn’t mean things will go as you plan. Life does not work that way.
I have a lot more to say on this, but I don’t quite have the time. And it’s hard to make counter-arguments against dots of light on an LCD screen. I’m going to bed.
March 30, 2008 at 8:29 pm
I don’t think that there has ever been the belief that drugs are just for poor people. There have been many cases in which upper class people have used drugs. That is where club drugs, or designer drugs, come from. They may not use street drugs such as marijuana or cocaine, but pills such as ecstacy are still drugs nonetheless.
April 2, 2008 at 12:41 pm
I never actually viewed drugs as more of a poor person use. And I do actually believe that the kids with more money would use it on drugs because they have extra money for things they don’t need.
But yeah, about the whole kids not listening to people, that’s totally true. They’re going to do what they want, and messages aren’t going to stop them. Not saying that I do drugs, its just that some kids don’t view it as a bad thing.