Vices

ALCOHOL
Alcohol is a part of most people’s lives from their teens onwards. Experimentation with alcohol begins
at an early age, typically in the form of a glass of wine shared with parents. Children’s behaviour and attitudes
are strongly influenced by their parents and the world around them, particularly as portrayed in the media.

And like the portrayal of violence the portrayal of drinking leads to imitation. It’s the parents
responsibility to teach their kids to drink sensibly. Normally they seldom talk with their children about alcohol
because they are in two minds about whether their children should be drinking at all. Parents who don’t allow
their children to drink at home turn a blind eye to their drinking at parties where there is nor adult
supervision. But however socially acceptable, wide-spread and common alcohol is, it is still a potentially
dangerous drug. The dangers of alcohol are overlooked because of concerns about drugs. Many people act as
though cigarettes or ecstasy can do more damage. And problems related with alcohol are continuing to
increase.

There are a lot of national charities determined to educate people about the dangers of alcohol. It
recommends that men drink no more than 21 units of alcohol per week, women no more than 14 (women
have less water in their bodies than men, so they get drunk more quickly and feel the effects longer because
they have less water available to dilute the drink). A unit is a glass of wine, one small glass of spirits or half a
pint of beer or lager. Young people generally keep to this limit. The trouble is that many of them down more
than half the weekly limit (dangerous amounts) on one evening. They don’t understand the risks they are
taking. As a result they get drunk, lose their inhibitions, become violent, drink and drive or and up with an
unwanted pregnancy. In a word: It affects all aspects of a teenager’s life. Currently there is a scheme for
schools called “Skills for Adolescence” which will make children to be better equipped to deal with the
temptations of drugs. It aims to enable them to make informed decisions about such things, rather than
simply trying them because everybody else does.

Alcohol is not the key to enjoying yourself. It lowers your inhibitions and makes you merry for a short
time. It also makes it harder to co-ordinate or reason. Pretty soon you are behaving in a way you would never
dream of normally, or you are starting to feel dizzy or just plain sick. Staying sober has more benefits than you
might realise. You have nothing to regret the next morning because you have been in control all night.

DRUGS
People take drugs because they have a weak personality and because they are inadequate in some
way. They take them to escape from their problems.

Durlea Marius Catalin Clasa a-XII-a F

A pusher tricks them into trying drugs so that he can make them addicted and then sell them drugs for a high
profit.They take them for pleasure because they like the effects. (because of curiosity, fashion, in with crowd,
opportunity)
To rebel against their parents and the rest of society. Take illegal drugs because it is not legal.
Effects: overalertness, drowsiness, lively, giggly, ideas of persecution, appear drunk, depress or stop
breathing, unconsciousness, bring on confusion, cause unbalanced emotions, mental disorders, constipated,
miss periods, deterioration, diseases.
Regular frequent use produces dependence. Abstinence in a regular user can result in withdrawal symptoms.
“something ought to be done about drugs”: heavier fines and prison sentences for people using or selling
drugs, ban on all cigarette and alcohol advertising, more tax on alcohol and cigarettes.
Likely to be mentally disturbed, what is the beginning of the end, so to say.
Who is responsible for the victim’s death – the pushers or the victims themselves?
He is on the dole and registered as a heroine addict, committed theft and pickpocketing, forced to
undergo a cure for drug addiction in a detoxification center, withdrawal seems to be successful, lapse back
into old habits, be signed up and clean, involved in cases of drug abuse, backgrounds, lead him to hard drugs,
stick to soft ones, turn to hard drugs, never to late, overdose, chance for a cure, hospital treatment, Alcoholics
Anonymous, struggles young people go through, get caught up in drug scene, need encouragement, drugs
know no boundaries of class, prostitution, mugging, panic silence or vague warnings, not criticise and moralise
if them want them to feel confident, communication, need higher and more frequent doses, the more often
you use them the more you need to get the desired effects, make all your senses more intense, distorting
things around you giving you a feeling of unreality, repeated use may cause psychological disturbance, state of
panic and torment, trapped, hallucinations, sweat, concentrate, nervous, no energybarbiturates (downers),
tranquillisers(depress nervous system), solvents and gases, opiates(reduce pain), amphetamines (uppers,
speed, whizz), cocaine (stimulate nervous system), caffeine, tobacco, magic mushrooms, cannabis (alter
perception) Hamburg wants to nationalise the black market, to co-opt the pushers and make the government
the dealer. In legitimate commerce, their sale controlled, taxed and supervised, dangers proclaimed on every
packet, drugs would poison fewer customers, kill fewer dealers, raise public revenue. Calls for state-run drug
distribution centers which would be strictly controlled, secure and very few. Addicts of any age could apply.
But only people medically certified as already dependent would be allowed into the program, Once
approved, they could get clean heroin or cocaine, but only in individual doses, no taking it back on the street.
Nor would addicts feel the need to rob or worse to deal and hook new customers to support their own
habit. State would come down hard on big-time pushers. It would be a criminal act to conduct private drug
traffic on a commercial basis.

Durlea Marius Catalin Clasa a-XII-a F