Drugs have become a major issue for people around the world, usually for teens and older generations, according to The New York Times. All drugs, illegal or legal, affect one’s mind negatively, depending on the amount consumed. Drugs can affect one’s ability to think clearly and act irrationally, according to TeensHealth. They can tear relationships apart, causing the addicted to abandon friends and family solely for drugs. Even prescription drugs can be fatal when abused.

This knowledge of drugs isn’t a secret, so why do people continue to consume drugs habitually? Some people decide to try drugs for various reasons, such as wanting to fit in, relieving boredom, experiencing something new, or wanting to escape reality, according to The Foundation for a Drug-Free World. However, even trying drugs once can cause one to want to feel the same experience, which could possibly lead to addiction and dependence. People addicted to drugs usually resort to crime to pay for the drugs. Drug dealers can take advantage of potential buyers by selling them impure drugs and cheating them in the process, according to KelloggInsight.

Go Ask Alice, a real diary, is about a teenage girl, who remains anonymous throughout the story. She experiences drugs for the first time, and becomes addicted, trying more and more types of drugs, such as pot and heroin. She runs away from home several times, seeking a new life, but in the end, gets sucked back into the world of drugs. To quote the teenager in question, she states that “After you’ve had it, there isn’t even life without drugs. It’s a prodding, colorless, dissonant bare existence.” Additionally, she commits vulgar acts, such as losing her virginity while under the influence of drugs, selling drugs to elementary school students, becoming a prostitute to earn drugs, and eventually being incarcerated in an insane asylum.

During her entire experience, she writes all of her accounts in a diary, the only “friend” that is willing to listen to her problems. However, after she returns home from the asylum, she pledges to stop taking drugs and lead a steady life, while possibly seeking romance the right way. Unfortunately, she dies three weeks after she decided to no longer keep a diary, the cause being unknown. The editors of this diary state, however, that the cause of her death is not important, but the fact that she was one of thousands of drug deaths that year should be the main concern.

However, stronger police enforcement on the illegal drug market may not be easily achieved. In some states of the United States, marijuana has become legalized, for both medical and recreational use, according to News.Mic. In addition, organized crime groups, in response to the legalization of drugs, may act more violently for more control over the black market, according to Brookings. Police enforcement, in order to be effective, needs to reduce violence associated with drug trafficking and punish illegal behavior and corruption, according to Brookings.

<Yeojun Yun Burbank High School 11th Grade>