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Young people today have a lot of stress to cope with. Families, friends, studies, health, finances. When they do get some time to relax and have fun, they want to enjoy themselves to the max. They may find themselves at the receiving end of advice from friends and acquaintances offering a quick fix to help them have more fun. And when they see everyone else using drugs and apparently having fun they don’t want to feel left out, their inherent curiosity leads them on to discover what all the fuss is about. There are many young people who can try it once, and feeling that nothing much was gained, walk away and never look back. But there are others, probably the ones lacking in confidence or suffering from low self-esteem, who feel good when they take drugs, they like the buzz, the high they get, and they want to continue feeling good. So they keep on taking the drugs, not knowing what side effects they may have, or what effects can be expected long term. And if they get addicted, they won’t care anyway, they’ll keep on taking more and more just to feel good. Their friends will become alienated because the drug user undergoes a change of personality. They become bad tempered and irritable; suffer from mood swings; lose concentration, interest and enthusiasm in life; withdraw from hobbies and sports; lose pride in their appearance and will make unusual and repeated requests for money (it’s an expensive habit.) Physical signs of drug addiction include sudden weight loss, occasional memory loss, slurred speech, lack of energy, disturbed sleep patterns, chronic coughing, poor coordination, red or watery eyes, dilated or pin-point eye pupils, loss of appetite but craving sweets.
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