Drugs and Alcohol

Drugs and Alchohal

I chose my topic over drugs and alchohal because in the book heart of a champion, that is the main issue that causes Jimmy to drink and drive and end up dead. Alchohal abuse causes over 100,000 deaths in the United States each year and alcohol related motor vehicle accidents are the most common deaths among teenagers. It is the most common drug used by kids 12 to 17. It is very common for teenagers to try alcohol, but they dont realize the consequences of what they are doing. People who drink alcohol are more likely to engage in high risk sexual behavior, have poor grades or job performance, use tobacco products, and experiment with illegal drugs. Teen drivers that are drunk or have some alcohol in them are extremily dangerous because they are inexperienced and they are also an inexperienced drinker. Teen drivers are at a higher crash risk than any other age. Another reason why teenagers use alcohol is because they look to it to cure there depression. Drinking at a young age can be very harmful to you for the rest of your life because it can cause damage to your body system. Long-term heavy drinking damages the liver, nervous system, heart, and brain. It can also lead to high blood pressure, stomach problems, medacine interactions, sexual problems, osteoporosis, and cancer. Alcohol abuse can also lead to violence, when some people are drunk they become angry and violent and they want to hurt people. It can also lead to problems at home and work. If you come to work hung over your boss isn't going to be happy and if you can't handle yourself at home it can break families apart and you can be a bad role model for your kids, and make their childhood harder than it needs to be. But the worst thing of all that alcohol can do is cause accidents, and make your life result in a jail cell. There are many negative symptoms of alcohol, some of the symptoms of an alcohol problem include personality changes, blackouts, drinking more and more, and being in denial that you have a problem. A person with an alcohol problem may sneak drinks, drink alone or early in the morning, and suffer and shake. They may also have family, school, or work problems or get in trouble with the law because of drinking. There are different types of alcohol abuse problems. One type is when a person comes home from work and they drink and drink until they go to bed either because they are just that addicted, or they are very stressed. The other type is when you drink lots of alcohol at a certain time, such as the weekends. And you get so drunk that you sleep the whole next day and you are very hungover. Some people go for long periods of time being sober but then they experience an extreme withdrawl and they will go on for weeks of binge drinking. Someone that is very dependent on alcohol may experience withdrawls during the day which includes trembling, dillusions, hallucinations, and sweating.
In the book Heart of a Champion Jimmy is pressured when he is young into trying drugs. Some of the types of drugs include marijuana, methamphetamines, cocaine, heroin, or other street drugs. And then also the abuse of legal prescription and nonprescription drugs. Most people use drugs to get high, so that they can forget about all of there problems and escape the world. In the United States and Canada, 40 percent of adults will use an illegal drug at some time in their lives. Many people abuse more than one illegal substance at a time.
Some of the ways that you can tell that you are abusing drugs is when you are so physically worn down that you can't do anything. You get fatigued very easily and you may to begin a lasting cough. Emotionally your personality changes and you begin to have mood swings and you don't make very responsible decisions. You make poor judgement, your self-esteem lowers, and you get depressed really easily. You lose interest in just about everything because all you can think about is getting high.
Something that parents really need to do is talk to their children about drugs and alcohol early in their life so that they won't make poor decisions and get behind the wheel. In the book Heart of a Champion nobody took the time to talk to Jimmy about what was wrong with drinking because his dad was an alcoholic. He wasn't able to control himself and he was very angry which caused a divorce in the family. Because Jimmy didn't have that role model when he was young, he made poor choices when he got older.
One of the main things that is helping against drinking and driving is MADD. Mothers Against Drunk Driving. It is an organization to seek to stop drunk driving, help those that have been effected by it, and prevent underage drinking. The organization was founded 30 years ago when a kid was killed by driving drunk and his mother decided to take charge. There has been a lot of accidents since then and they are still trying to take charge. Hopefully we can figure out a way to prevent it so that we can avoid drinking and driving and parents won't have to go through the pain of their kid dying.