Overview of the Issue Just this past weekend I was driving to go downtown with my friend and some of her other friends. I did not particularly know her other friends too well, but from what I knew they all seemed to have good heads on their shoulders. By talking to them I understood that they were taking challenging courses and were involved on campus, but they all seemed to be able to handle their classes and activities. It was when I heard one of them say, “I think I’m going to take Adderall tonight!” that I got confused. “Why? Are you going to study or something?” I asked. “No, I have just never tried it and I really want to,” they said. “Did the doctor prescribe it to you?” little oblivious me asks. “Ha! What, no? I bought it from a …show more content…
Instead of calling their parents or someone else for a ride, students will get behind the wheel when they are over the legal limit of blood-alcohol content. I have experienced a drinking and driving tragedy early on in my life, and it has strongly affected my view of drinking and driving. When I was in eighth grade, I was in Las Vegas for Spring Break. I vividly remember being at the aquarium at my hotel, Mandalay Bay, checking Facebook on my phone. Everybody I knew was posting, “I’m so sorry for your loss!” on my friend and neighbor, Maddy’s, Facebook wall. After doing some investigating, I did something that I still regret to this day. In the middle of the aquarium I blurted out, “I think Zach Hull died.” My mom looked at me with the most shocked look on her face and said, “Miranda, that is not something to joke about.” But when she realized I was not joking she whipped out her phone and started calling all of her friends back home. When it was confirmed that Zach, our 20-year-old neighbor, had in fact passed away, she started bawling in the middle of the aquarium and I do not think she stopped crying until we got back home to Idaho later that night. The second we pulled into our driveway she hopped out of our car and ran over to our neighbor’s house. Zach’s mom, Tamera, could barely get out what happened through her tears. Zach, who was the starting baseball pitcher at Lewis and Clark State University who was already having MLB scouts look at him as a sophomore, was driving home from a party the night before when he overcorrected and ended up driving down a steep hill. Not only was he drinking and driving, but he did not have his seatbelt on. So at the moment of impact when he hit a tree, the steering wheel hit his throat and cut his air
It only takes that one drink to be intoxicated and they're driving ability is not the best, going back home from the party. Teens do not think twice of what danger they are putting them or others in, when they get into the car. Either it be death or a life changing event. This all could have been different if teenagers think about they're careless actions ahead of time. Teens make careless actions.
This is said with the idea that even though Adderall is a Schedule II Substance, it doesn’t seem as dangerous or serious as heroin. A big part in the philosophy of this is because it’s extremely easy to obtain on college campuses. In an interview done by Hercampus.com, Amanda states that, “On my campus, […] Adderall is extremely easy to find. Sometimes you don’t even have to ask for it if your friends take it regularly and study with you often […] People will try to sell [Adderall] to get cash for laundry money” (Gladu 2015). Even though it’s a Schedule II drug, a nationwide survey showed that it’s only considered as “very dangerous” by two percent of students. The survey also showed that the percent of student that believe nonmedical use of Adderall is “not dangerous at all” or only “slightly dangerous” is a whopping eighty-one percent (Zadrozny 2015). In short, the students that take Adderall don’t see how it can affect them because they are getting the drug from their friend, or classmate, and not in some dark alleyway associated with the more intense
The facts are plain and simple, that alcohol and driving do not mix. About three in every ten Americans will be involved in an alcohol related crash at some time in their lives. Every single injury and death caused by drunk driving is totally preventable. To curb this national travesty, concerned Americans need to examine the problems, the effects, and the solutions to drunk driving. First of all, America has had a problem with drunk driving since Ford perfected the assembly line. Alcoholism is a problem in and of itself, but combined with driving can have a wide range of effects. The consequences of this reckless behavior can include a first time DUI or licenses suspension; a small fender bender, or worst of all a deadly crash. Most drivers that have only one or two drinks feel fine, and assume they are in control, which is irresponsible and dangerous. Alcohol is a depressant that slows down the body's ability to react and impairs judgment. To drive well, you need to be able to have a quick reaction time to avoid accidents. Unfortunately, people continue to drink and drive. However,...
Drunk driving accidents are the number one killer of adolescents (Teenagers and peer pressures. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from). Mixing drinking while driving can be deadly. Teenage drunk driving accidents not only affect the person drinking while driving, but it also can kill or harm others (Alcohol problems and solutions. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from) (Teen drinking and driving. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from) . Every single accident provoked by drinking and driving could have been prevented. If underage drinking is illegal, why do young people do it ? Teenagers usually are influenced by their elders (Alcohol problems and solutions. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from). In the United States, one out of ten 12 through 14 year olds have tried alcohol and continue to do so on a regular basis . There is a more than fifty percent of probability that young adults that have tried alcohol at a younger age may become alcoholics in the near future (Alcohol fatalities. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2013, from). So, why do teenagers take so many risks with their health and behind the wheel? The answer is simple teen drivers tend to think they are invincible and more needs to be done to educate teens on the dangers of drinking and driving.
Each year, about 5,000 teens are killed or injured in traffic crashes as a result of underage drinking and about 1,900 are due to car accidents. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation) In the newsletter, safety in numbers by National highway traffic administration and U.S department of transportation “Of all the people who died in motor vehicle crashes during 2012, 31 percent died in crashes involving a drunk driver, and this percentage remains unchanged for the past 10 years” (Vol 1, 2013). Crashes involving alcohol include fatal crashes in which a driver had a BAC of .01 g/ ld. or higher (Underage Drinking Statistics)). Deadly crashes involving alcohol are twice as common in teens compared to people 21 and older. This is because teens’ judgment skills are harmed more by alcohol. Teens who drink not only risk hurting themselves, they risk hurting their friends, family, and even strangers when driving intoxicated. Teens and parents both need a strong reminder that underage drinking is illegal and can have disastrous consequences. According to Health Day News, “one study found that in 2011, 36 percent of U.S. college students said they'd gone binge drinking (five or more drinks in one sitting) within the past two weeks, as compared to 43 percent of college students in 1988. Since 2006, the current law has reduced the rate of drunk driving crashes among young Americans” (Preidt, 2014 and DeJong, 2014). This proves that lives have been saved after the legal drinking age increased. According to an article in Time Magazine called “Should the Drinking Age Be Lowered?”, “lowering the drinking age to 18 would stop infantilizing college students, but it would probably kill mor...
Drunk driving happens when families gather at parties, games, or even away on vacations. Do not let a family member and friends stir in this terrible way, and help them decide better. Also, drunk driving does not just hurt the family member of the victim, but other families. “In 2013, 10,076 people were killed and approximately 290,000 were injured. Each crash, each death, each injury impacts not only the person in the crash, but family, friends, classmates, coworkers and more.” Just to imagine that even blows the minds of many people. Drunk driving is a problem that affects everyone, regardless of age or class. In the United States drunk driving is a threat to families, because poor low-income families lose their love ones in a driving accident involving alcohol; dead and gone forever to be here for their love ones, that person could have been their number one source of financial income for that family. In addition, individuals involved in a repeated drunk driving should not be able to purchase a car, for the safety of the communities. They’re one other frightful, ghastly story that happens to a close family friend who happens to be driving one night from school. She was driving home, when she realized a car popped in front of her, spinning around violently. In panic, she had no clue what to do since the road; she was traveling on was one way only. She sat there, her vision blurred, and she needed a plan to escape this horrifying moment, but her brain was in shock. As the car came closer, she closed her eyes, and that was the dreadful car crash that killed Cali in the summer of 2013. Although, Cali 's death could have been prevented if only the driver had not driven in a drunken state, because This did not only took the life of a loved one, but it 's left her two daughters motherless and no one to take care of since their dad was careless, and was not there for them. Couple days later child services took the kids to a
College can be a challenge with endless papers, tests, and other tasks. A pill that allows extreme focus helps accomplish necessary tasks. Adderall is a prescription medication given to patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Jaffe). However, this drug has become known as a “smart drug” around college campuses (“Daily News & Analysis”). About 6.4 percent of college students have taken Adderall without a prescription (Carver). At more competitive schools, about twenty-five percent of students have taken Adderall (Pantovich). Students take the drug with hope to improve a grade. However, in the long run, the student only hurts himself or herself.
According to Levinthal (2011), alcohol is called the hidden drug because an alcoholic does not need to find a drug dealer on the street; instead it is legally available and has no criminal sanctions attached to its use; alcoholism is therefore easily hidden from friends and family. Unfortunately, drunk driving is the leading cause of deaths on roadways, and in addition causes hundreds of boating accidents as well. Fortunately, with the legal drinking age set at twenty one and the reduction in the BAC level of intoxication set to 0.08, there have been positive results in minimizing alcohol related deaths annually.
There is knocking at a door late at night, and there a policeman standing at the door with information that a family member was in an accident that involved a drunk driver. This is one of those things people hear and believe that it will not happen, but it happens every day. Every 40 minutes, someone in the U.S. is killed by a drunk driver and in 2008, in Montana, 40 percent of all traffic fatalities involved DUIs (“Drunk Driving” 1). Drunk Driving affects everyone and people in Montana should look at what other states do to find ways to make the laws tougher and more enforced.
Car crashes are the leading cause of death for teens, and about one-third of those are alcohol related. Don’t be that person that lets a drunken driver on the streets; be the difference.
Drunk driving is an issue that effects many people across our nation. People do not realize the affects alcohol can have on the body and mind that slow decision making while driving. This issue begins in the home. Children see their parents, or other adults figures, have a beer or a cocktail and get in the car. Thus, making it seem like it is acceptable to drink and drive. “One in three people will be involved in an alcohol-related crash in their lifetime” (MADD).
For many years, drunk driving casualties have been viewed differently. Many believe that drunk driving laws are strict while others believe that it is too lenient. In this generations, where alcohol is cheap and very accessible many tends to abuse it. This people who abuse alcohol is known as drunk drivers because after taking three or four drinks they still believe that they are not drunk and goes back to the wheel of their vehicle without thinking of what will happen next. This drunk drivers are willing to risk their lives and the lives of others because they are ashamed or too big to call a family member or a designated drivers to take them home. If they are lucky and did not die on their way home. Then they create this dangerous cycle of
It really is no secret that if the minimum legal drinking age were lowered, a large number of teens would then drink for perhaps the first time. “The age group with the most drivers involved in fatal crashes with Blood Alcohol Content levels of .08 or higher during 2011 was the twenty-one to twenty-four-year-olds” (“National Highway Traffic Facts”). Young adults are just as irresponsible at eighteen as they are at twenty-one, maybe even more irresponsible. The teenagers will indulge themselves on what they feel is a luxury the first chance they get. The young adults abuse the alcohol, and then go driving because even at twenty-one through twenty-four they are still not as responsible. If the age is lowered to eighteen, many eighteen-year-olds will go out and drink alcohol for the first time. The age group may rise to number one in fatal crashes. The National Highway Traff...
The growing awareness of alcohol hazards has made people more cautious of their drinking habits, particularly young adults. At present young adults have the highest prevalence of alcohol consumption than any other age group. They also drink more heavily, experience more negative consequences, and engage in more harmful activities, specifically drunk driving. Although surveys have documented a decline in recent years, consumption rates remain highest from late teen years to the late twenties (Johnston1-3). Despite the long-term decline since 1982 in alcohol related traffic deaths, a 4 percent increase occurred between 1994 and 1995 among young adults age 21 and over (Hingson 4). As alcohol-impaired driving persists, legal and community initiatives intervene to help reduce the problem, as well as, continuing research on possible solutions.
When someone makes the decision to consume alcoholic beverages, it should go without saying that they should also be choosing to be a responsible drinker. Being a responsible drinker means not consuming more alcohol than their body can handle and more importantly, not getting behind the wheel of any type of vehicle after drinking. In an article written by high school student Steven Engler, he says it well; “If you choose to use it, do it responsibly, and don’t put anyone’s life in danger, including your own.” (New York Times, 2003) No matter the person’s age or the type of alcohol consumed, alcohol lowers a person’s inhibitions and ability to think clearly, while also increasing their chances of engaging in risky activities. It is possible for a person to have a few drinks, relax and have a good time however, all too often people overdo it and end up making bad decisions that they most often regret. Many times, the worst of these decisions is convincing themselves that they are “fine” and what they drank will not impair their driving. Some may say that these individuals simply “made a mistake.” Yes, everyone does make mistakes however, driving while intoxicated is not a mistake that affects only them, it is something that affects and risks the lives of many people and themselves. The sad thing is that drunk driving is one hundred percent preventable and therefore the loss of lives due to the recklessness of drinking and driving is preventable as well. Mr. Bloomberg hit the nail on the head when he said “Simply put, drunk driving is selfish, criminal and it kills, and we are not going to tolerate it.” (New York Times, 2002) Drinking and driving is a selfish act made by a person who seemingly does not care about the people around th...