The Nightwatch Program, Inc. - Crime Prevention At Its Best

Say No to Drugs

There are many types of drugs, some can save our lives, and some can ruin them. Most drugs are beneficial, such as the aspirin and cough medicines in your medicine cabinet, and the antibiotics you get prescribed for by a doctor, but there are some drugs which are very, very harmful to you, such as marijuana and cocaine. These drugs are also illegal to posess.

Most of the illicit drug use in this country is marijuana and cocaine, although some people use prescription drugs in a nonmedical way, such as using large amounts of pain-killers. These drugs produce a "high" state, which can be addictive. Some drugs have highly detrimental effects, such as marijuana, which can impair mental facilities, and eventually lead to an increase in cancer. Possesion of these drugs is also illegal, and if caught by law enforcement with drugs on your person, you will be arrested. The same goes for drug dealers, although the majority of people arrested are for drug possesion. Some drugs can appear like a good thing on the outside, but in truth are harmful. For example, ecstasy, a drug taken orally as a pill, produces profoundly positive feelings towards others, which is how it gets its nickname "hug drug", but can have very harmful side effects such as paranoia, increased temperature, nausea, tension, depression, and in some rare cases, death.

The average amount of money spent on drugs in this country per year has been around 60-70 billion dollars since the mid 1990s. WIth all this money being spent on drugs, who uses them all? Unfortunately, most of them are teenagers. Many teens try to "experiment" at that point in their lives, and end up on drugs. They simply "feel good", and many are not aware of what it can do to them, and some are too addicted to care. If you know someone addicted to an illegal drug, talk to them about it, and try to get them professional help. It may just save their life someday.

For information on most illegal drugs, visit www.streetdrugs.org.