Students on the Issues - Girls Feel Pressure to Use Drugs

Girls Feel Pressure to Use Drugs
By Sharika Richardson, 12th grade
August 9, 2006

One of the major issues that the world faces today is drug use. Lots of people use illegal drugs. The Associated Press says that young women are more vulnerable to them than men. The main reason I think girls use drugs is peer pressure. Friends and boyfriends can pressure a girl to use drugs because they are doing it or everyone else is. Alcohol use has gone up also. I think girls use it to make their problems go away, but then again that’s what most people use it for.

Today girls face more problems than boys. For example, girls worry about what they look like and what everyone thinks of them. Dr. Warren Seigel says that boys and girls react to drugs differently. Sometimes girls feel that they really need this drug to succeed or make their problems go away. Boys don’t feel this way; they just want to be cool and fit in with their friends. Speaking as a girl, doing drugs doesn’t make me fit in. The only time people do drugs is when they have problems.

I know people who do drugs to make them feel better. They go through a lot of things with their family and try to please others. For example, I have a friend whose family doesn’t approve of her behavior and puts her down. She sees drugs as a way out. Use doesn’t have anything to do with you as a person, but what you think of yourself. I try not to listen to what people say. When someone says something to you, that comment is all you think about. If you don’t want to hear that voice in your head anymore, you need a way to make the thoughts go away. That’s when you think you need that drug. If you can just be strong enough to ignore what everyone says about you, then you don’t need that drug.

Another difference between boys and girls is that girls need to feel loved by something or someone. If girls know that there is someone who loves them and wants them to do right, they won’t look to drugs as an option. If you’re in a relationship, it’s you and that person; you don’t really need anyone else. When you’re in love with someone who tells you to stop smoking, you probably will stop. But you also have to do so for yourself. By smoking, you’re shortening your life, so you stop for both reasons.

As I see it, all you need is support and love from the people. If you have both, drugs won’t mean anything. You won’t need to drink, smoke, or take that pill. You won’t need a way out because you’re happy. When I’m happy and have no troubles, I don’t need anything. We as Americans need to stop using drugs for all the wrong reasons. We need to stop using drugs period. We’ll get further as a country if we all do the right thing.

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