The Effects of Drug and Alcohol Abuse

Posted: August 7th, 2013

The Effects of Drug and Alcohol Abuse

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The Effects of Drug and Alcohol Abuse

            Drugs and alcohol abuse is an emerging phenomenon that has raised concern especially to parents and guardians worldwide. This is because teenagers are the main consumers of alcohol and even hard drugs that include the likes of heroin and cocaine. As much as most of these drugs are illegal in most countries, some people manage to smuggle and sell them to the teenagers. The unsuspecting teens buy them not knowing the adverse health risks they expose themselves to every time they consume them.

Such effects are highlighted in television programs such as Beverly Hills, 90210. It is a teen drama series based in the lavish Beverly Hills. It revolves around students of Beverly Hills High School. This program displayed the effects of drug abuse and alcohol consumption through one of its main characters, Adrianna Tate-Duncan. She is one of the main characters in the 90210 franchise. Adrianna is an aspiring actor who is under immense pressure to support her family through her acting career. She is Naomi Clark’s best friend. Naomi is also one of the main characters from a very rich family. Because of stress and immense pressure from her mother to be the best, Adrianna turns to drugs. However, she cannot afford the drugs and, therefore, steals from the affluent Naomi (N.a., 2007).

Naomi discovers Adrianna’s drug addiction problem and offers to help her out, and Adrianna accepts her help and stops taking the drugs. A crucial play was to be performed at the end of the school year and, Adrianna, being a good actor, hoped to get the main role as Cleopatra. Things did not go her way as she lost it to Annie Wilson (another main character). This makes her get a relapse and resumes her drug abuse though she hides it from Naomi. The routine drug check-up catches Adrianna unawares, but Naomi tries to help. She is, however caught and arrested while trying to flush the drugs down the toilet. Adrianna promises her that she will admit that the drugs are hers in order to get Naomi out of trouble. However, she does not because she overdoses before she can. She is rushed to the hospital and later is admitted into a rehabilitation centre where she discovers she is pregnant. Adrianna eventually gets clean and gives up her baby for adoption to compete high school.

The program is targeted for teenagers since its storyline revolves around challenges that they face in their day-to-day lives. It is based in the lavish Beverly Hills area so it aims for the high and middle income earners. As for the gender, it is not inclined to any. Considering the country of origin and the race of the cast members, it is for the Caucasian population. The TV program realistically depicts drug and alcohol use because it depicts whatever happens to a large number of the teenagers in America. The story of Adrianna is original and is based on the lifestyle of some of the teenagers in several parts of the world and not only in America. It is also realistic because it shows the process of addiction, causes of addiction and the effects of the vice on the life of the user.

I have used a documentary on drugs and their effects (N.a., 2007). It explains the causes and effects of drug abuse on teenagers. It shows interviews of some teens that have previously been drug addicts and others who still are. It tackles the question of the availability of drugs and even who supplies the drugs to the teenagers. The TV program has incorporated warnings by showing the effects of drug abuse on the character Adrianna. The effects not only affect her life but also that of her family and friends. There is nothing particularly deceiving in the program about the characters since the issues it addresses are genuine and happen to some teenagers. Drug abuse is a vice that everyone should try to fight against since it has numerous effects.

References

 N. a. (2007). Teen truth: An inside look at drug and alcohol abuse. Mount Kisco, NY: Human Relations Media.