Editor’s note: The Voice of the Wildkats staff worked on a series of in-depth articles for what we named The Issue Issue. Our staff members wanted to write articles about things teens really wanted to read about. Our goal was to send the magazine to the publisher the week we returned from spring break. Since school is out until May 4th or longer, we wanted to publish these stories. An important role of journalism is to help the public, and it is our hope that these stories will open dialogue and encourage students to get help if they are going through tough times. All articles will have The Issue Issue logo displayed. They will also be under a special menu. It is our hope to let students know they are not alone. There is hope no matter what you are going through.

Studies show more than 46,000 teens do at least one drug each year. Drugs affect the body in so many dangerous ways. Breathing could be off and other organs could get really damaged depending on the type of drug that is used. 

Everyone knows that most drugs are life threatening and shouldn’t be used. Drug use and abuse is illegal, but still people dangerously begin using drugs every day. Some of them are teens.  One junior shared his story to help others who are struggling.

There are many reasons teens use drugs. They are depressed, bored, pressured and influenced.

“I was in a deep spot in my life,” Wilson* said. “I thought that this was the only way to escape.”

Teens are damaging their bodies and the excuses they use aren’t even the best. At the end of the day, their hurting themselves even more than they think.

In 2017, 70,200 people died from drug overdose. Statistics like this should curb drug use, but studies show teenagers and young adults are still using drugs. 

“I felt normal,” Wilson said. “All the problems went away, then I came down from the high and I hated it. So I did it again and again.”

According to Wilson, the drugs slowly took over his life. It wasted his time and money. Only when threatened with losing someone he cared about, Wilson decided to stop using drugs. 

“I stopped using drugs because one of my friends told me that my girlfriend would leave me for good if I didn’t stop,” Wilson said. “I wasn’t going to have her leave because she loved me and helped me through so much.”

*name changed to protect identity of student