Drugs have been a rising epidemic in teens and adults. There’s probably a story every single day involving something with drugs, and with so much coverage there comes a lot of other things.

I hate to be that whiny, sensitive person, but drug use is not a joke. With social media playing such a huge role in younger peoples’ lives, the last thing we should do is pretend that drugs aren’t serious.

I know that some people use jokes during hard times to cope, but drugs will put any life to dark and scary times so why are we making light out of it? It takes one drug to flip your life around completely, and to take away all of your dreams, friends, and family. How anyone can find something funny in that is so beyond me.

Watching people you love throw their life away, and having little to no control over it is something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Nobody deserves to go through it or watch their loved ones go through it.

When I see jokes about drugs, I can’t find the humor in it because experiencing what they can do is heartbreaking.

The problem with making jokes about drugs is that considering they’re mostly circulating on social media (which is widely used by teenagers), the audience that is being reached is the same audience that will be most likely to experiment with those drugs.

Everyone that is acting like drugs aren’t a serious problem are contributing to the same people that start trying those drugs and then can’t see anything wrong with it.

Many people (celebrities and people you know) die from drug addiction, and most drug addicts will tell you that if they could take it back they would. Drugs will become your worst best friend.

They’ll never leave your side, but they’ll make sure to ruin your life. It might be all fun and games at first, but when your life is taken away from you it will become a sad reality.

Not only do drugs ruin the life of whoever is taking them, they ruin the lives of the people around the user.

It’s mentally exhausting to deal with it, and to go through some of the side effects of using drugs (such as stealing). It’s a selfish decision to make when you choose drugs over everyone else including themselves, and it’s going to hurt everyone around them until the day they choose to stop using them.

If you know people that are getting into drugs or are exhibiting addictive behaviors, don’t condone them. Tell them or someone that can help them about your concerns, and try to get them help as soon as possible.

It takes a small amount of time to go down a wrong path, and to ruin your life. You don’t get the days you lose to being high or in rehab back. You don’t always get a second chance at the dreams you once had, so if you can save a life now then do it. Don’t joke about it.