Week 10, Post 1

In chapter 16, I found the health consequences of drug usage to be interesting. I thought it was interesting that tobacco impairs digestion and nutrition, slowing down growth. Drawing from my knowledge basis, I thought it only affected the lungs. Teenager’s major organs continue growing even after their height spurts occurs. By partaking in tobacco use, adolescents impair their developing internal organs such as the heart, lungs, brains, and reproductive system. Alcohol is another drug teens have incorporated into their social life. As a way of bonding, adolescents use intoxication as a weekly social activity, especially in college. The social drinking becomes a customary weekend release, and extends into their weekend regime. I think this weekly activity is habit forming because drinking might become habitual, even after college. College graduates are likely to become alcoholics as a result of the college drinking scene exposure. But that’s determinant of self-control, moderation, and responsibility of the individual. The health consequences of alcohol are impairing memory and self-control by damaging the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex (p. 456). Alcohol also distorts the reward circuits of the brain (p. 456). The textbook described that alcohol has numbing effects and becomes a quick solution to stress and other problems. In addition marijuana seems harmless, are more likely to drop out, become teenage parents, and be unemployed (p. 456).