Ultimately, students taking illicit drugs is a genuine issue in light because it not only impacts the individuals in all aspects of life, the effects swell out destroying families due to emotional and financial burden caused by healthcare expenses.

Communities and the public in general are also impacted if students are bringing drugs inside academic institutions. There are numerous medical applications of these drugs for treating other medical issues.

However, drugs should just be administered by professionals and not through the self-administration of illicit drugs.

I am reaching out to the educating bodies and my fellow students to be cautious against this dangerous culture of illegal drugs. Many students fall prey to the drug life. How does it come to this?

Students have been abusing drugs to achieve happiness which is short and ugly. It is saddening to see our students become part of a drug lifestyle that is full of regret. Please, seek out help if you are using non-prescribed or illegally obtained drugs.

According to gatewayfoundation.org, there are many side effects to using illicit drugs such as abnormal heart rates, heart attacks from injected drugs, nausea, abdominal pain, liver problems, seizures, mental issues, brain damage, lung diseases, problems with memory, focus and decision-making which makes daily living difficult.

I strongly believe that if you are taking illicit drugs, you are in danger because they impact the user’s health, families, academic institutions and overall our society.

I came to learn core facts about this drug abuse in our education system when I started working at a nursing home as a social worker.

I met with many patients, mostly students that were suffering from mental issues caused by drug abuse from illicit drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, acid, LSD, methamphetamine, antidepressants, stimulants and other forms of illicit drugs.

It was shocking to see how the majority of people in the nursing home were actually students suffering from brain-related issues. Furthermore, they were away from their family and unable to participate in any activity outside the nursing home.

The drug issue in our society had attracted my attention to speak with teenagers. I met some teenagers in the neighborhood who were smoking marijuana. It was easy to approach them because a person in the group was a friend of my friend.

I asked them about the drug culture in our high schools. They said that, “everybody does it” and “even the girls do it.”

I also asked them if they were ever involved in such activities and their response was, “hell yeah. We are about that high life.” They had named many other drugs, such as non-prescribed antidepressants, acid, LSD and cocaine that were also being circulated within the school system.

Another student told me about his experience as a young child.

He usually spent his time outside selling weed to support his education and his parents would worry where he would go every day. Anytime I had a chance, I would try to keep him away from drugs.

I would ask him about his relationship with his parents and he would get emotional towards a few of his family members.

I would tell him to spend more time with them in hope to bring closure between them and reduce his addiction.

He believed that marijuana is good in terms of building finances to fund his education and producing several art forms like painting, drawing and writing poetry, but the act of smoking itself was not because it damages your lungs.

He had tried several other drugs that were extremely dangerous as well. I was able to persuade him away from other drugs because I took him to my workplace and showed him the ultimate reality of drugs.

Just like me, he was shocked and learned several lessons and was able to reflect how young adults were suffering from permanent mental issues.

Communities and society at large are also impacted.

According to addictioncenter.com, drug abuse can influence changes in academic settings such as drastic changes in participation, grades and academic performance.

These influences have bigger ripple effects on our society because academic institutions can create shifts in public perception of drugs; thus, changing legislation that makes penalties more or less severe for the individual and the society in a broader context.