After living in an area where hard drugs are a reoccurring subject that is often talked about in our communities, I've started to realize that there are greater epidemics that we should be discussing.

Yes, drugs are extremely problematic around the world and efforts to solve these issues should still circulate, but there are much bigger problems that aren't really being confronted at all - tobacco and alcohol abuse.

Not only is tobacco and alcohol being used at a much younger rate, it's becoming more common in almost every household. Kids and teenagers are being introduced to these harmful substances as early as their high school and (in some cases) even in their middle school era.

When someone brings up drugs as a topic of discussion, tobacco and especially, alcohol, are rarely ever brought up - if at all. The first list of drugs that I hear are Heroin, Amphetamines, Crack-Cocaine, Prescriptions, Marijuana, etc.

So,why is it that no one is talking about how critically dangerous tobacco and alcohol really is?

Well, from what I have seen, I truly don't believe that people are aware of how threatening they really are, especially when they advertise the branding of these substances everywhere you go... Billboards, radio broadcasts, website advertising, and much more. Tobacco and alcohol are so commercially driven that the traffic provided by the consumer(s) and their audience is undeniably uncontrollable, along with the revenue that comes with it... Like Method Man of Wu-Tang Clan has said before, "Cash Rules Everything Around Me."

How menacing could tobacco and alcohol be if they're being advertised so much?

Very. In fact, tobacco is the deadliest drug in the United States and smoking alone has been estimated to be responsible for up to 540,000 deaths per year, which is approximately 510,000 more deaths than every other drug combined (excluding alcohol).

Alcohol is the second deadliest drug in the United States, being linked to about 88,000 deaths per year, which is approximately 58,000 more deaths than every other drug combined (excluding tobacco).

I'm not here to lecture an audience. I'm simply here to raise awareness because both tobacco and alcohol are the deadliest drugs in the United States, yet every last one of these deaths could have been prevented.

Please help make the world a better place and please, act responsibly.