It’s a known fact that many teenagers begin to experiment with alcohol and drugs at a young age. But the scary thing is while they are naturally curious about these things, they may not know the serious consequences that can come to them and badly affect their health, physically and mentally.
               

According to the National Drug Society Household Survey of Australians, trying drugs and alcohol is something every one in five teenagers do. Teens try drugs to experience new things or to fit in with the popular kids. Is fitting in with the popular kids really worth destroying your body? Alcohol can severely damage your liver, brain development and life. Your liver takes care of detoxifying different chemicals entering your body and metabolizing drugs. According to www.teens.drugabuse.gov, drugs mainly affect three main parts of your brain, one part being the brain stem. The brain stem controls all the different functions our brains need to stay alive and breathing.  Examples are transferring blood, breathing, moving all the different limbs in our bodies, etc.  The second part of your brain is the limbic system. What the limbic system does is it controls all of our emotional states. The third main part drugs effect in the brain is the cerebral cortex. It controls all five of our senses, controls thinking and decision making, and planning. According to www.dailymail.co.uk, if you are an alcoholic your lifespan will be cut back by 23 years. Taking drugs and drinking alcohol can affect your life in many ways. For example, it can hold you back from getting multiple jobs, end relationships you have, homelessness, school work, focus, legal problems, etc. You can end up spending all of your money and time on drugs and alcohol and have no job, no relationships, no home, and legal issues. Will drugs and alcohol still be worth it after you have nothing left in your life?
               

According to the National Drug Society Household of Survey, 67% of teenagers have tried alcohol. That is over half the teenagers enrolled in your local high school. If so many of your peers try alcohol and still seem to be okay and having the time of their lives, why shouldn't you try it? The answer to that is because it is simply dangerous. The first time anyone tries alcohol, they have absolutely no way to figure out what their drinking tolerance is. Your drinking tolerance level is like an invisible cup inside your body. Think of the very top of the glass as your tolerance level to alcohol. If you consume enough to fill that cup up to the top, that is where you have had enough to drink! This is where it becomes extremely dangerous for yourself and others. According to www.thecoolspot.gov, 5,000 teenage deaths occur each year from consuming too much alcohol. Deadly crash rates are doubled for people under the age of 21 and older compared to people over the age of 21. These deaths occur by people swimming, driving, etc. Anyways, if teenagers know that alcohol is bad for their bodies, why do they continue to drink it? According to www.webmd.com, the brain is wired in a way that will let itself seek out enjoyable feelings. Your body however adapts to chronic use. In other words it becomes natural for your body to function with alcohol within your system. According to www.drugfreeworld.org, some short term effects from alcohol are; slurred speech, drowsiness, vomiting, impaired judgment, blackouts, etc. Now to talk about a few long term effects alcohol can have on your body; permanent damage to the brain, Ulcers, inflammation of stomach walls, cancer of the mouth and throat, unintentional injuries, etc. None of this is worth destroying your body.
               

Moving on to drugs and how they can affect your life. According to www.recovergateway.gov, drugs can weaken your health, cause addiction, and multiple behavioral problems. Drugs weaken your health by making your immune system deteriorate, damage your liver, cause seizures, etc. Drugs can cause addiction by rewiring your brain to make you think you need them. The main behavioral problems that occur when you consume drugs are violence, paranoia, loss of self-control, impaired judgment, and hallucinations. According to www.dailymail.co.uk, chronic methadone users cut their life back by 38 years and heroin users cut their life back by 42 years. Do you really want to live up to age 60 when you can possibly live up to 100? 
               

Teenagers should be cautious when deciding whether or not to experiment with drugs and alcohol. Peer pressure can be a tough thing to face and can force teens to act before they think, but if more emphasis is put on educating youth on the risks, dangers and negative impacts that drug and alcohol use cause it may help just one teen at a time say no to these harmful and dangerous activities.