According the Office of Supplied Studies, in a study done in 2001 (cited at bottom), an alarming percentage of US citizens are drug abusers. The reality isn’t that they all die from drug addiction. Another study done on DrugWarFact.org explains that only 17,000 people die from drug abuse yearly. This same study pointed out that about 3 million people in the US have serious drug problems.

So we have all the studies, but what do they mean? Drug abuse doesn’t kill? The reality is that drugs may destroy your life easier than end it. What you do is see the reality behind addiction. I see it as something that destroyed my life. I watched it destroy others. This piece is more a road map than a path to healthy living. It just points out what you need to know.

Understanding:
Drugs don’t kill everyone, but they do destroy many lives. The proof is simple, or seems simple-the US government has been at war with drug abuse for decades. Someone, somewhere cares about how youth lives are being destroyed.

Seeing the Reality:
The reality may be you won’t die. However, couldn’t it be said that even the basic addictions can kill you, if not immediately, but eventually? When a heroin addict uses a needle, and then passes it on, what pictures of AIDs do you see? It’s not lecture; it just means more than dieing. Your life changes as you watch the destruction.

Watching the Destruction:
It might destroy your life. You may not die: you may become homeless or insane, you may get a vicious disease, or you may lose all relationships. What matters is playing this tape all the way to the end. You will need to take action on your own soon.

Taking Action:
Taking action is about putting down the drugs. It’s a philosophy many of us can use: choosing to make the right choice. Youth addiction may be paramount, because more and more drug addicted teens are growing up in a world where you can buy a bag of weed for the price of two movies.

Making a Choice:
It’s still up to you. It’s a choice. What matters isn’t lecture, philosophy, or opinion. The drug addiction reality may seem far away. It won’t happen to you. It doesn’t kill that many people every year. Drugs only rob people of their careers, their health, and their family. The drug addiction reality is that too often people forget, only to be reminded when something bad happens.

Sources:
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Association, <http://www.samhsa.gov/index.aspx>
Drug War Facts, http://www.drugwarfacts.org/causes.htm#illicit