Drugs have effected British youth

Young people can now access drugs in every town and village around UK. British surveys suggest that 45% aged 16 to 29 have used illegal drugs. Youth need credible, realistic information to protect themselves from the risk and dangers of drug addiction. I strongly believe that parents, carers and families also should be supported. They experience problems that drugs cause at first hand, and have a key role in helping young people. They should be aware that drug misuse does not occur in isolation. It is associated with other problems such as the misuse of other substances (for example, alcohol and tobacco), youth offending, school exclusion, family problems and living in crime-ridden, deprived communities.
A total of 1.75 million school pupils have used an illegal drug at least once, of which at least 300,000 are doing it regularly. What is more some pupils say that they even take drugs at school. For parents school remains a protected place. If they even know that their children take drugs they would hardly believe that they do it at school to, as students call it, ''chill out''. In that case the most popular drug is marijuana. The typical attitude is that "no one has died from taking pot". Marijuana use is seen as low risk. However, there is overwhelming evidence that for a good 24 hours after use a student's brain will not be functioning correctly. So in fact it would be harder to learn for them. In my opinion if any of drug problems appears at school, teachers and parents should cooperate with each other and educate children about dangers of drug taking.
I am inclined to believe that drugs problem has been made worse by long absences of parents. Usually use of drugs occurs at night or weekends when in theory parents are in charge. Here a question about parents' responsibility appears. If a 13-year-old boy goes to a friend's house, one might assume that there is a parent, who will look after children. But is really there? Of course young people can do whatever they want if they try hard enough but it doesn't mean that parents should always believe in their children without any doubts.
Teenagers are in the front line of addiction. Many are nicotine addicts before they arrive, and smoking is often for them just the first step into a whole new world of illegal and dangerous experimentation. They start to take drugs even without feeling of any danger. Sometimes it is because nobody has told them how risky it could be. Careers should know how to talk with children about drugs problem, in the way, which will show all negative aspects of it. Moreover they should always control places where children use to spend free time, try to know all friends of them and never be absolutely sure that children are safe. Parents can't even imagine how others could influence one child. There are a lot of organizations such as 'Adfam' or 'DEPIS' in England that help parents in cases connected with drugs.
Illegal drugs are put into three different classes in the UK - A, B, and C. Class A drugs include heroin, cocaine, ecstasy and LSD. Class B drugs include amphetamines such as speed and barbiturates. If found guilty by a court of law of possessing Class A drugs you could go to prison for up to seven years and fined and people found guilty of possessing a Class B drug could go to jail for up to five years. On January 29, the government reclassified cannabis from a class B to a class C drug. It means that if a person was stopped by the police and found to have cannabis on them, they could only be given a warning, a caution or a summons to court. The change has definitely caused confusion amongst young people. People aren't really sure what the law means and some young people and also their parents think it means it is now legal to smoke marijuana. Their confusion is understandable because people are often unclear when the government introduces new laws. It strikes me that every aspect of drug problems is very complicated and gives many questions, which are hard to be answered even for adults.
In my opinion it is important to be to turn to youth before they turn to drugs. This case in particular becomes a concern of all parents as they watch their kids grow. It’s never too late — or too early — to talk with children about drugs, how they work, and the damage they can cause. Whether carers want to talk to children about alcohol, tobacco, amphetamines, marijuana, or any other controlled substance, it’s never easy. On the other hand, it is probably not as difficult as many may think, either. Informing children about drugs sooner rather than later will enable them to resist placing themselves in situations where drugs are used or offered. It will also help them attracted to friends who don’t use drugs and to activities where drug use isn’t acceptable.