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Quick Facts About Marijuana...

Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States and tends to be the first illegal drug that teens use.

Marijuana blocks the messages going to your brain and alters your perceptions and emotions, vision, hearing, and coordination.

In the short-term, marijuana use causes:  sleepiness, impaired or reduced short-term memory, reduced concentration and coordination, dry mouth and throat, paranoia, and hallucinations.

Long-term effects of marijuana use include:  Enhanced cancer risk, decreased ability to have children (for both men and women), decreased sex-drive (for both men and women), and psychological dependence (addiction) requiring more of the drug to get the same high.

Want the plain and simple facts about drug use?  Here they are...

There is no safe drug. Drug use causes a variety of physical and mental health problems including depression, aggression, brain damage, organ damage, and can even lead to suicide.

Drugs are addictive.  People who use drugs usually say they feel great at first, but over time, they need more and more of the drug to achieve the same high. "Chasing the high," is what leads to addiction, multiple drug use, and in some cases, to overdose and death.

Drug use affects judgment. Drug users often do things they wouldn't ordinarily do if drugs weren't "in the picture," such as stealing to pay for drugs, lying, engaging in unsafe sex, and putting their lives or the lives of people around them at risk.

Drugs ruin lives.  Not only can drug use destroy your mental and physical health, and ultimately cause you to lose your life through overdose or suicide, but drugs can also cause users to drop out of school, lose friends and loved ones, become pregnant, contract HIV/AIDS, and commit crimes that send them to jail. 

Drug use has consequences.  What goes up must come down, so if you're thinking about "getting high," take a minute to think about what happens after you "come down."  The short ride up is definitely not worth the devastating fall!

Drug Abuse 101

Knowledge is POWER, so arm yourself with the facts about the composition, effects and risks of today's illicit substances and drugs.  Click the drugs/substances listed below to learn about each.

Methamphetamines

Cocaine/Crack Cocaine

Hallucinogens

Inhalants

Think you might have a problem with substance abuse?  Click here to learn the signs and how you can get help.

Worried about a friend or loved one's drug abuse? 
Click here to learn how you can help.

Speak Out!

Do alcohol, tobacco, substances, and/or gambling impact your life? 
We want to know!  Visit our Teen Speak Out page and share your
experiences and views.

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