Your donation will support the student journalists of The Judith S. Kaye School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.
Under the influence of Teenage- Substance Abuse
Addiction is a hugely complex and destructive disease, and its impact can be simply devastating. All too often, lives and families can be shattered by it.
December 22, 2022
The Exotic Cannabis Shops are so legalized in the neighborhood that a November survey tested 40 cannabis products from 20 unlicensed weed retailers in New York City. The study found harmful bacteria and pesticides in at least 16 of the products tested. The bacteria were found in both flower and edible cannabis products, the survey alleges. According to the CDC, infection from salmonella can cause diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps.
In conjunction with these licensed shops, the market also offers many other addictive substances such as disposable vapes, tobacco products, and oil pen vaporizers. Vaping came onto the market unregulated and widespread due to the variety of flavors kids could choose from. Vapes contain a chemical that will affect the not yet fully grown brain of children, leading to addiction issues. According to early psychometric research scientists and health experts were scrambling to understand the risk associated with a wide range of products, many kids had already become addicted to vaping. Over the past decade, the FDA has been able to place restrictions on vaping. According to a 2019 survey, more than 5 million U.S. middle and high school students used e-cigarettes in a 30-day time period (U.S Food and Drug Administration, 2019). Prevention is the best method of defense for parents fighting to keep their teens and young adults away from vaping.
“I’ve seen 13-year-olds on the bus smoking nicotine proudly and acting like it was a good thing, it is honestly bringing down this generation,” said Sarria Foster, a student at JSK.
Folks have complained that selling Cannabis edible candies is unfairly marketing these products to children. Children are often targeted and are under the influence of drugs that are mostly sold in these exotics shops. The awareness of teenage substance abuse and overdose leaves many interrogating the root of the problem. Why are so many teens turning to substance use in the first place? Smoke shops must be held accountable for their actions of enforcing their policies on children without proper supervision as an appropriate Identification card to be able to purchase these products on the market. However, as confronting and addressing the crisis, vaping has proven to be especially difficult for educators to law enforcement as its relatively easy for youths to hide.
As the use of electronic smoking devices becomes more common, schools have started facing challenges as the students crowd the bathroom in large groups between periods and even during the middle of class. In fact, we have public schools in NYC that limit the number of bathrooms available just because they think that students are doing illegal activities there. Yet the problem of reducing the number of available bathrooms is a problem itself since most students that vape or use drugs can easily go somewhere else that is hidden and convenient to do these activities since most education compounds are advanced largely.
The majority of teachers felt that vaping had become a bigger problem in their school over time and nearly half reported that they were “extremely concerned” about their own students vaping. According to Ms. JP, A history teacher at JSK high school stated, “vaping has become a real challenge in schools lately.” Teachers say youth vaping is impacting their ability to educate students because of frequent class interruptions, decreased student focus, and few resources to help them address the problem.
Teachers have also added that students have developed humorous attitudes toward vaping, suggesting that vaping has become normalized in schools & should be put at an impasse as soon as possible.
Many of the teachers in this study described interruptions resulting from student vaping. One teacher described vaping as a daily disruption, impacting other students in addition to the teacher. “Constantly asking to leave the class and being pulled out to talk to [administration] and resource officers, it disrupts not only the student but everyone else in the class. Constant disruptions cause learning to go by the wayside. My students are not getting the time and attention they deserve in class to learn.” Another teacher described an episode when a student pulled out his vaping device in class and took a puff, prompting another student to do the same shortly after. The teacher reported that it took the class 15 minutes to recover from the incident.
Reducing the number of available washrooms for use not only does not solve the problem of vaping and drug use, but it also causes more problems. Many staff are quitting because of constant pressure from the students and having to work up to student suspensions.
We can review why these Cannabis companies are having a bad impact on underage children. The students need help to break from these addictive and unhealthy habits. “Quitting is a very personal experience; what worked for others may or may not work for you. However, the more you know about how to quit, the better your chances of success”
For more details regarding the ways quitting will improve your life and visit the link below for more details.