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Gabriel Ordonez Professor Raybould-Rodgers English 514 14 July, 2011 Reasons under Cannabis According to Tara Parker Pope, reports indicate that 40 percent of high school student have tried marihuana. This statistics come from a survey of 4097 high school student of the state of Connecticut. On the other hand, another report from MTF (Monitoring the future) reported that, in colleges, almost 50 percent of the U.S. college students reported using marijuana at least once and 19.7 percent of them were current users of the drug. The marihuana is a drug that comes from the cannabis plant and it is used as a recreational drug and a medical drug. Cannabis, better known as marihuana, is one of the most common drugs used by student and, according to the UNs World Drug Report, cannabis is the worlds most popular illicit drug andit remains the most widely consumed drug worldwide witha global annual use estimated between 2.9% and 4.3% of the population aged 15-64. The reasons why so any student use marihuana vary from cases to case and it is important to understand what drives so many student to use this drug. First of all, the main reason why students opt to use marihuana as a recreational drug is because of curiosity and experimentation. They want to how it feels to be high or under the influence of the drug. These kids might feel like they live a boring life or feel some kind of emptiness inside. They hear their friends talking about how much fun they have while they were under the influence of marihuana and the curiosity drives them to try the drug. These students feel pressure from their friends who encourage them to try the drug and this kind of pressure usually starts at parties and any place where teens hang out. They want to fit in with the rest so

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they try the weed. A teenager girl named Destanie posted on the web site Narconon.com that so i know better than to do them, but my friends are pressuring me to do them. One of the only people that i am close to (which is my boyfriend) is telling me to not do them. I am almost 15 and i have started to realize addiction runs in my family, mainly just drinking but drugs too. I drink already and i love it. I have recently started smoking, cigarettes and weed. All my friends do it and a majority of my school does it, so i tried it and now i love it. This teenager started using weed (Another term for cannabis or marihuana) because all her friends were using it and she wanted to fit in. She was being pressured by her friend and finally gave in. Another reason why students decide to use drugs like marihuana is because they are victims of domestic violence, victim of other problem in the household, or in life in general. Many kids who feel they live in a very hostile environment at home start using drugs like marihuana because they see the drug as a way to space from their troubled life.Amy Hoover says in her article Cause of Drug Addiction that [people] turn to drug use to cope with problems in their real lives. Whether it is past abuse, school problems, work problems or relationship issues, drug use can help a person temporarily escape the realities of his/her life.In spite of the fact that these students know that the drug will wear off and reality will come back, the temporary feeling of relaxation and comfort is enough reason to use it. If a family member is an addict, drug addiction becomes more acceptable to the student.Destanie mention on her post that her mother has been using drug since she was 17 years old and this fact probably help Destanie see drug as more acceptable. Destanie is just one of the many stories of teenagers that use marihuana. She is great evidence that friends can lead someone into the wrong direction. She shows how a parent could influence the behavior of his or her child and that curiosity could be a bad influence of teens.

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Destanie, as many other kids in high school and college, started using drugs to be able to fit in in the society where most students think that using drugs is acceptable. She is an example of someone who was influenced by the wrong people.

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Cited Work Destanie."Stories on Drug Addiction - About Us | Drug Addiction Stories & Info." Drug Addiction Stories | Quality Stories on Drug Addiction Blog Articles. Drug Addiction Stories & Info. Web. 14 July 2011. Parker-pope, Tara. "Marijuana Use in High School Students - NYTimes.com." Health and Wellness - Well Blog - NYTimes.com.New York Times.Web. 14 July 2011. World Drug Report 2010. Rep. Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2010.UNODC. Web. 14 July 2011.