Facts

The best defense against any and all forces that seek to take your freedom is knowledge. Arm yourself with the facts, know the consequences of bad decisions, and you're well on your way to being free.

Alcohol

Why Do Teens Drink Alcohol?
Fair question. Let's try to dig up some good answers. Do teens drink because of peer pressure? Are TV and movies to blame? Does it run in the family? Is booze just too tempting for some people to resist? Or are teens just trying to blow off a little steam and have fun?

How Alcohol Affects The Body.
Alcohol isn't cool. Actually, it's kinda depressing. Alcohol, after all, is a drug that slows down activity in the brain and can permanently damage some other organs that your body needs to, you know, live. Too much booze can not only make you sick, but kill you.

What are the short-term effects of alcohol abuse?
Alcohol can make you lose control of your body. And still people drink too much? How much sense does that make? Alcohol slows your thinking. It can make you lose your coordination. It also makes some people aggressive, causing them to get into fights. You may even throw up or pass out. Then there's the morning after. A hangover feels pretty rotten. And blackouts are a sign you've already damaged your brain. Don't say we didn't warn you.

If Everybody's Doing It, How Bad Can It Be?
Sure, underage drinking is common. But is it really that dangerous? You bet. People who start drinking at a young age are more likely to become alcoholics. Teens who are heavy drinkers risk getting bad grades and brain damage. And then there's drunk driving. Need we say more?

Alcohol: Weighing The Risks.
Have you ever heard people say that alcohol, in moderation, can actually be healthy? So why is it a crime to buy alcohol if you're under 21? Is this some kind of secret conspiracy orchestrated by cops and the company that makes all those breathalyzers? Are young men and women affected by alcohol the same? And what about uhh…you know…sex?

Drugs

There are many different types of illegal drugs, all of which have their own short-term effects. Ultimately, all illegal drugs have the same long-term effects – they rob you of your freedom. Below are the straight facts on some very dangerous and often deadly drugs. We didn’t try to sugarcoat anything.

Inhalants
Inhalants are ordinary household products that are inhaled or sniffed to get high. When inhaled, they can cause intoxicating effects. Intoxication can last only a few minutes or several hours if inhalants are taken repeatedly. At first, users may feel slightly stimulated. With successive inhalations, they may feel less inhibited and less in control. Finally, a user can lose consciousness. Other effects include headache, muscle weakness, abdominal pain, severe mood swings, violent behavior, numbness and tingling of the hands and feet, nausea, hearing loss, limb spasms, fatigue, and lack of coordination. More long-term effects include heart failure and death. This is especially common from sniffing fluorocarbons and butane-type gases. High concentrations of inhalants also can cause death from suffocation by displacing oxygen in the lungs and then in the central nervous system so a user stops breathing. Other irreversible effects are hearing loss, limb spasms, central nervous system or brain damage.

Methamphetamines
Methamphetamine is an addictive stimulant that strongly activates certain systems in the brain. It is commonly known as “Meth,” “Crystal,” or “Speed.” A user immediately experiences an intense rush that lasts only a few minutes. After the initial rush, there is a state of high agitation that can lead to very violent behavior. Other possible immediate effects include increased wakefulness and insomnia, decreased appetite, irritability/aggression, anxiety, nervousness, convulsions and heart attack. Meth is highly addictive. Users find themselves needing larger amounts to get high. Users often forego food and sleep and take more meth every few hours for days, 'binging' until they run out of the drug or become too disorganized to function. Chronic use causes paranoia, hallucinations, compulsive behavior and delusions of insects crawling under the skin. Meth can also cause strokes and death.

Cocaine
Cocaine comes from a coca plant. It is a potent brain stimulant and one of the most powerfully addictive drugs. Short-term effects of cocaine include increased temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, insomnia, loss of appetite, feelings of restlessness, irritability, and anxiety. Cocaine's effects are short-lived, and once the drug leaves the brain, the user experiences a "coke crash" that includes depression, irritability, and fatigue. Prolonged use of cocaine can cause extreme paranoia. Smoking crack cocaine can produce a particularly aggressive paranoid behavior in users. When addicts stop using cocaine, depression can follow. Prolonged cocaine snorting can result in various heart problems, and eventually death.

Marijuana
The short-term effects of marijuana include memory and learning problems, distorted perception (sights, sounds, time, touch), difficulty in problem solving, loss of motor coordination, increased heart rate, and anxiety. These effects are even greater when other drugs are mixed with marijuana. A user may also experience dry mouth and throat. Marijuana smoke contains many of the same cancer-causing substances as tobacco, sometimes in higher concentrations. People who smoke a few joints per week may be taking in as many cancer-causing chemicals as someone who smokes a pack of cigarettes daily. Naturally, this means that marijuana users run a high risk of death and sickness from lung disease, as well as generally having poor respiratory health.

Prescription Drugs
Opioids are among the more abused prescription drugs. The most serious risk effect of opioid use is respiratory depression, where the user’s lungs actually begin to shut down. Common side effects of opioid use include constipation, nausea, sedation, dizziness, vomiting, headache, dry mouth, sweating, and weakness. All really bad stuff, but what's worse is death. Taking a large single dose of an opioid could cause severe respiratory depression that can lead to death. Long-term use of opioids results in tolerance for the drugs, which then leads to physical dependence and addiction -- the body adapts to the presence of the drug, and withdrawal symptoms occur if use is reduced or stopped.
Drug Sources: The Partnership for a Drug Free America

Tobacco

Why Do Teens Smoke?
Everybody knows tobacco is dangerous and addictive. So why do teens smoke and dip? Is it really peer pressure? Because everybody is doing it? Or is something a little darker going on? Did tobacco companies really use movie stars to pitch cigarettes to teens? Dig deep and see what you can find.

What's In A Cigarette?
There are more than 4,000 chemicals in cigarette smoke and 43 of them are known to cause cancer. So what would make someone want to inhale poison? Why are there so many weird additives in cigarettes? Is ammonia really added for flavor?(It doesn't smell good. How could it taste good?) And what about licorice and cocoa?

How Tobacco Affects The Body.
You know tobacco gives you nasty yellow teeth, bad breath, and wrinkles. But that's just the tip of a big, fat iceberg. Cigarettes are a major cause of diseases that affect the heart and lungs. Spit tobacco is just as bad. It can literally rearrange your face. Plain and simple, tobacco cuts lives short.

If tobacco were discovered today, would it be legal?
For years, people have known that tobacco is dangerous and addictive. But that wasn't always the case. In fact, once upon a time, tobacco used to be advertised like it was good for you! But what do you suppose would happen if tobacco were discovered today? Would the government declare tobacco an illegal drug? Would they regulate it? Or would they allow it for only certain uses--like killing bugs?