Preview

Drugs and Alcohol Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
608 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Drugs and Alcohol Essay
Drugs and Alcohol Essay
Underage drinking has been a growing problem for as long as alcohol has been in existence. Now with rising prices of alcohol, drugs are becoming the cheaper option for a night out. Therefore the use of drugs by teens is becoming a rapidly growing problem and this combined with underage drinking is having major effects on the young adolescents of Australia. Money urgently needs to be spent on finding a way to improve these growing problems, then more money needs to be spent on making the ideas a reality.
If something significant is not done in the near future to educate those which are already or are considering underage drinking, the problem will continue to grow and grow until the point where the human race is significantly less intelligent. The average Australian starts drinking alcohol at 15.5 years and more than a quarter of our 14-19 year olds are putting themselves at risk of harm from underage drinking and binge drinking at least once a month. It is almost unbelievable that on average Australians are starting to drink almost 3 years before they are legally allowed to. At this rate within a short amount of time a high percentage of kids will be drinking while they are still at primary school. Rather than the government spending the tax payers hard earned dollars on people that don’t have jobs and usually just spend their weekly money on drugs and alcohol anyway. The money should be spent on better educating teenagers on the effects of underage drinking, by sending out people to schools, more ads on tv, warnings on labels, etc. If this isn't done there will be serious consequences as previously mentioned, which will also be very difficult to fix.
Drugs are a serious problem no matter what age you are. So for people to be doing it at such a young age is an indication on what it will be like in the future if something doesn’t change. In a recent study more than 60 percent of teens said that drugs were sold, used, or kept at their

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    These days there are a number of social issues in the community, such as drug abuse, teenage pregnancy and alcohol abuse. Alcohol abuse is rampant in today’s society, Australian Drug Foundation states that, “Alcohol is the most widely used psychoactive, or mood-changing, recreational drug in Australia.”(Healey, 2002, p. 11). Underage drinking and binge drinking are some of the problems associated with alcohol abuse.…

    • 1574 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Allure of Drugs

    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Teens are under a lot of pressure to try drugs whether it comes from their curiosity their friends and peers or television and movies. They are also generally easy to obtain in schools and areas around schools. This makes the barrier to entry for these drugs very small for many teenagers. Teenagers often do not fully think through their decisions and the consequences.…

    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Substance abuse has been a topic of concern all over the world. But, the Western counties are often noted to have major cases of drug abuse among adolescents compared to orthodox societies. Addiction to hallucinogens has range of implications that affect physical, psychological, sexual and spiritual aspects of an individual.…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Some adolescents are not aware of all of the risk that comes with substance use. They do not know all of the effects that each drug will have on them cognitively, physically and emotionally. As they get older they gain more knowledge about drugs and their effects. They are able to assess the risks and determine that substances are not worth their health. They are not able to assess whether the rewards of taking drugs are worth the risks. Also some adolescents are not able to evaluate the bigger picture of how drugs are going to affect all aspects of their lives in the present and in the…

    • 1575 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Alcopops Tax

    • 1807 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Youth Binge Drinking Culture Must End [online]. Australia, AMA, Available from: http://www.ama.com.au/node/2965. [Accessed on 10th May 2010]…

    • 1807 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Most Americans would agree that underage drinking is a national health issue which must be addressed. Too many young adults perish every year from drunk-driving accidents, alcohol poisoning and other alcohol related incidents. The estimated social cost of underage drinking in America is fifty-three billion dollars a year (McCardell 1). According to a survey completed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “Fifty percent of teens between twelve and sixteen have consumed alcohol in the last thirty days” (Jacinto 1). Something must be done to correct this problem and protect the young adults of our nation.…

    • 1640 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Alcohol in Australia

    • 1223 Words
    • 4 Pages

    13% of deaths of under aged minors each year is related to alcohol. (The Australian National Council on Drugs report (ANCD) 2007). A shocking 60% of students aged 12-17 reported consuming alcohol in the past year, and 23% in the past week alone. An Australia School Student’s Alcohol and Drugs (ASSAD), survey, 2008 showed…

    • 1223 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A lot of teenagers abuse drugs for a variety of reasons, stress from school, social acceptance or low self-esteem, self-medication, misinformation, and easy access to name several. Seventy three percent of teens of teens report the number one reason for using drugs is to deal with the pressures and stress of school. This was…

    • 1699 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A central objective of the government’s Updated Drug Strategy 2002 is ‘preventing today 's young people from becoming tomorrow 's problem drug users’ (Home Office, 2002, p. 7). The strategy emphasises the harm drugs can cause to society and stresses young people ‘need good quality drug education, information and advice’ (p. 3). In January 2007 Barnfield Borough Council in North London commissioned the present study as part of its ongoing initiative to improve the standard of drugs education provided to local secondary schoolchildren.…

    • 1219 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Alcohol is a popular drug worldwide. It is often used at parties or clubs. Alcohol can lead to many deaths if you are not responsible with it. The drinking age is supposed to reduce deaths among young adults. Raising the drinking age has been a question for a long time. Young adults are not mature enough to make smart decisions yet because they are killing citizens and raising the drinking age can save lives. “In Scotland, hazardous alcohol consumption in young people is a continuous problem. For males and females, the largest increase in ­hospitalisation rates for alcohol-related­ ­conditions since the early 1980s has been in 15-24-year-olds.” says Principal Adviser Neil Craig.…

    • 740 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Increasing abuse of prescription drugs among teens can be attributed to psychological, environmental, or behavioral conditions.Drug abuse in teens can be linked to other disorders or conditions which lead to drug abuse. Teens who abuse drugs are likely to become adults who abuse drugs. It is necessary to understand and address these underlying issues if successful prevention is to happen. First it is necessary to understand the magnitude of the problem…

    • 2923 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Underage Drinking

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Alcohol use is extremely prevalent in our society. Young people grow up seeing their parents and other adults make toast of wine and champagne at special occasions, as well as casually enjoying a few beers at a picnic. Today alcoholic beverages are frequently as common at business lunches as they are at college frat parties. Underage drinking is a huge problem which everyone must face. Under age drinking not only has devastating effects on those who drink but also on our society. "Young people illegally consume almost 3.6 billion drinks annually which is 10 million drinks each day."(http://www.cspinet.org/booze/alcyouth.htm.) Underage drinking has serious social, health and economic consequences. It is a major factor in crime, violence, mental-health problems, and injuries including both those that are fatal and non-fatal. Unfortunately, these are problems that all of society will have to deal with.…

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Teenage drug abuse is one of the largest problems in society today and the problem grows and larger every year. Drugs are a pervasive force in our culture today. To expect kids not to be influenced by the culture of their time is as “unrealistic as believing in the tooth fairy,” (Jauman 140). Teens may feel pressured by their friends to try drugs, they may have easy access to drugs, they may use drugs to rebel against their family or society, or they may take an illegal drug because they are curious about it or the pleasure that it gives…

    • 1360 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In modern society, alcohol has become essential not only for socializing, but also for various kinds of religious and personal purposes. On the other hand, it cannot be neglected that many countries worldwide are experiencing different alcohol-related problems. For example, the ‘gin epidemic’ in Britain from 1720 to 1750 and the 13 years of prohibition of alcohol in the USA during the early 1900s. These examples all demonstrate the negative social impacts of alcohol. In present days, alcohol is still known as the most widely used drug all around the world. When it comes to Australia, it has been reported that the first European settlers drank more alcohol than any other community in human history (Victoria Government Health Information, n.d.). Alcohol also functions differently in contemporary Australian society: as a relaxant, a component of socializing and celebration, a source of employment and exports, and a generator of tax revenue --- it is a part of Australian culture (Preventive Health Taskforce 2008, p.2). In the 1970s’, the drinking age was lowered to 18 from 21 during the Vietnam War (Bibby 2009). One issue people nowadays are openly debating about is whether the legal minimum age for drinking alcohol in Australia should be, again, raised from 18 to 21. It has been suggested that as 18-year-olds have already been able to vote, they naturally should have the right to drink as well. However, this essay will argue that the legal drinking age should be lifted, and the reasons are as follows: there has been a trend of increasing alcohol consumption among teenagers in Australia, alcohol can bring different kinds of harms to young people, and social problems would also arise from teenage…

    • 287 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In relation to this, reviews of 17 studies in various US states conclude a 16 percent decrease in alcohol related harm after the drinking age was raised. They wrote ‘The evidence strongly suggests that raising the minimum purchasing age for alcohol would reduce youth alcohol-related harm in Australia’. However these dilemmas don’t only affect people under the age of 21, better results might be achieved if the focus was diverted to analysing the causes and motivation of these actions to prevent or predict similar…

    • 713 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays