Teens and Drugs

When you think of drugs you think of pot, heroin, and ecstasy, or at least I do. When you think of drugs you don’t think of anti depressants or Ritalin or Adderall even allergy medicine the “doctor prescribed drugs”. Teens normally don’t know that these drugs are some of the most controversial. There have been many doctors trying to stop the selling and production of these medications.

Take antidepressants many teenagers are on them by the time they are 15. It is supposed to help your mood and make you feel better. But do they really help you feel all that much better? Some people think that these drugs make you feel worse. Take a article in YM about a teenager named Jamie. She was on antidepressants and now she says “My medicine almost killed me!” When Jamie was on her medication she felt worse and thought about suicide. One night she even took a razor to her wrist but it was dull so now she only has a scar.

Many parents put their children on Adderall or Ritalin to calm them down because they are hyper active, or they can’t concentrate. On Riki Lake one day they were talking about putting kids on this medicine. There was a couple on there who lost their daughter because she took her regular dose of Adderall. She collapsed and then when she was waiting to see the doctor she died in her mother's arms in the doctor’s office. Later they found out that she died because of her Adderall medication that the doctor had told her parents to give her.

But on the other hand you have all of the other parents who say the medication works. It helps their kids concentrate and makes them easer to be around. Some parents say that after their child has been placed on medication to help their hyperactiveness that they got better grades, made more friends, and became happier.

So this makes me ask the questions are these drugs that are supposed to help you help you? When these children go on there medication it makes them calm down and be easier for parents to be around. But aren’t parents supposed to be parents and look after there kids, aren’t kids supposed to be wild and have fun I mean there kids they have more energy then most of us. If doctors argue over Ritalin and Adderall then are they good for you if they are fighting over if they are or not? Then depression medication does it really make you happy or does it make you sadder then you already are.

In my opinion I think that it is everyone decision to choose what drugs they take or not. I think everyone event the kids that are going to take them make sure they know the side effect, don’t just go by what the doctor says.