Careers Gateway - Magazine

Drugs

Are you using, losing, abusing or accusing?
Do you need support, are you in court or have you spared a thought?
What about the highs, what about lows and are you in the know?

Drugs affect many people in lots of different ways. There is no point writing articles that criticize or praise the subject of drugs…………..

You need to find the facts and make informed decisions for yourself!

There are lots of different areas that you may need information on. Here are a few of them :-

Health Issues - What are the effects, risks, highs and lows?
Support Services - For you, for a mate or family member?
Life and Experience - Don't take my word for it, find out from others who have experience and information to help and consider the possible effect on your whole life!
The Law - The laws you break, for those who take!

Health - What's in the balance?

There are many drug related issues that could affect your health. These range from dehydration to liver or kidney problems and even HIV or death. It sounds dramatic, but it's a possibility! So it is really important that you know what's involved. The best way of avoiding drug related health problems is to completely avoid drugs, but for those of you about to dismiss the advice…..find out for yourselves and make sure you realise what you are putting into your body!

Support Services - Access to help, advice and information.

Whether you need help and information for yourself, a mate or a family member, realising that help is needed is the first step! There are lots of websites that will signpost you to local and national services. You can also talk to your local Connexions Adviser or use Connexions Direct (see last article) to find out more. Talk to Frank is a new website that has an email section for you to ask questions through. Here are a few useful websites :-

http://www.talktofrank.com

http://www.adfam-parents.org.uk/

http://www.connexions-direct.com/

Life and Experience - Living the club scene or having a bad dream?

I have talked to lots of young people who say that they are fed up with adults waffling on about drugs, and other subjects that they don't know much about. So, why don't you have a look at other young peoples stories? This way you should get an open view of what is involved. Some young people talk about how it completely changed their life.

They talk about how the highs became lows when they lost friends, family and opportunities and suffered with lots of health problems. Why don't you see what they have to say? Check your local Connexions websites and others for examples of young people's experiences.

The Law - Risks worth thinking about!

Class A
Class A drugs include:- LSD, Ecstasy, Heroin, Cocaine, Crack, Morphine, Methadone, PCP, Opium, Magic Mushrooms and Amphetamines if prepared for injection.

Maximum penalty for possession:- 7 years jail plus unlimited fine.
Maximum penalty for trafficking:- Life imprisonment plus unlimited fine.

Class B
Class B drugs include:- Amphetamines, Barbiturates.

Maximum penalty for possession:- 5 years jail plus unlimited fine.
Maximum penalty for trafficking:- 14 years jail plus unlimited fine.

Class C
Class C drugs include:- Tranquillizers. Cannabis, (Valium, Temazepam, Diazepam)

Maximum penalty for possession:- 2 years jail plus unlimited fine.
Maximum penalty for trafficking:- 5 years jail plus unlimited fine.

The law changes regarding classifications, so keep up to date. Check out either your local Connexions website or your local police website for drugs information and the law.

Get on with it!

So here is some basic information about drugs and some links and ideas of where you can get more help and advice. In future articles we hope to go into more detail about drugs and many other subjects affecting young people, so watch this space!

Remember…

Would you do a bungee jump if you weren't sure how safe the elastic rope was? Don't make decisions about drugs without knowing all the facts!

Good Luck
Jennie Glitherow

At school or college? Look out for Jennie's future articles which we'll have here for the first Monday of each month, and which we'll link to the best sites we can find on the Web. Why not bookmark us now?

To get back to this page to use the links on it - enter http://www.careers-gateway.co.uk/mainpage.htm and click on Magazine then Drugs: Face the Facts