E.+Persuasive+Research+Essay

Jordan Hoecker. 1A.

Marijuana users typically start using the drug between the ages of 18 and 20, while cocaine use usually starts between the ages of 20 to 25 (Fendrich & Goldstein). Therefore, marijuana is the gateway drug to more serious drugs such as cocaine (Brooks). People who use marijuana move on to cocaine to get a better high. Cocaine is the most used drug in the United States. People who use coke get visible side effects such as sores, scars, and they pick at their skin. Long term side effects include weight loss, dependency on coke, irritability, and paranoia (Gregutt & Odle). Doing illegal drugs is wrong and pointless because they lead to worse habits, people give up on everything, and they tear their families apart. One of the effects of using cocaine is losing your job or giving up on it to use cocaine. People completely lose their financial stabilities because of using coke. They will pawn their belongings, and some even become homeless for the drug. Cocaine is the most addictive drug used in the United Sates. “ Once the brain has experienced cocaine  or crack, it wants more. The body also begins to develop a tolerance to the drug. The high does not last as long, so the user uses the drug more frequently to keep the high going. If cocaine  use is stopped, withdrawal symptoms occur. These may include having trouble sleeping, loss of appetite, depression, or anxiety. But the worst symptom is an intense craving for more cocaine or crack and a willingness to do just about anything to get it” (Gale 28). After someone gets addicted they give up on anything, just to feel good for a couple of hours. When a person is on cocaine they are never around their families. They are out with their “friends” or people they do drugs with because they would rather be doing coke, then hanging out with their own families. When someone is on cocaine, although they feel great about themselves, they also feel like they are looked down upon and judged by their family. So, if they are not around to be judged, then they have nothing to worry about and nothing to put them down. They do not care what their parents or anyone say, because in their mind, they are the only one that is right. If someone that is on coke needs anything, they will go to their family because they will give them money, will give them a ride to wherever they need to go, and will give them a place to sleep. No matter how terrible they are to their family, they do not care because they only care about their feelings and no one else’s. They slowly but surely rip their family apart. Some people need to be smarter about what they do with their bodies. If they do not have self confidence, they need to figure out a better way to use up time and gain self confidence other than using drugs. People who lack self confidence try using cocaine because it makes them confident and happy with themselves (Peter & Odle). There are more negative side effects with using cocaine than positive ones. “People don’t have an exclusive right to a lack of self-confidence. Everyone faces situations in which they are unsure of themselves” (Marie 6). They can hang out with a more positive group of people, or get involved in school and business activities to stay occupied. So what if cocaine gets someone feeling good about themselves for a couple of hours. It leads to a lifelong hardship of battling with money, bad surroundings, and hurting the people who love them the most, their families.