Criminal Elements

The medical dangers and signs of drug abuse are well documented and will not be discussed here. However, there are other dangers that should be mentioned. The most important factor to bear in mind is that dealing in drugs is illegal. It therefore stands to reason that the people involved in this activity are criminals. This is something that is surprisingly overlooked by people when they start taking drugs-usually because they get their first drugs from friends or acquaintances. When someone uses or buys illegal drugs they are joining themselves to the underworld by association and are allowing criminals to exert power over themselves. From the moment a person comes into possession of or uses drugs for the first time they become guilty of a crime. Apart from the fact that being caught with drugs can give you a criminal record-which will prevent you from traveling to many countries and from following certain careers-you could end up in prison with your life changed forever. People in the drug world are either criminals or addicts and nobody that uses or deals in drugs can be trusted, even if that person is or was your best friend.

Drug distribution is big business and the people running it are ruthless. They are actively engaged in getting people addicted to drugs, taking all their money and then using them to sell drugs to their own friends. Thus a new addict will come to regard their friends solely as a means to satisfy their own addiction. Many people who deal in drugs do so not because they want to; but by purchasing drugs and becoming addicts they unsuspectingly become involved with the underworld. They are then threatened with violence and are forced by drug cartels to sell drugs to their friends and acquaintances in order to expand the market. Every person in the drug distribution business-from the person selling on the street corner or in the rave club, to the wholesale dealer supplying them both works for someone who works for someone else. This is the method that international organized crime syndicates use to get people ensnared in their net. These organizations do not only run drugs but are involved in other illegal and immoral activities such as prostitution, sex slavery and pornography.

Many young girls who tried drugs once just to see what it would feel like have unwillingly ended up in pornographic films and magazines. They also often end up as prostitutes working for pimps who control them by drug supply. People under the influence of drugs often do things they otherwise wouldn't and this is especially true in the area of sexuality. Many have contracted HIV from engaging in just one reckless sexual encounter while under the influence of drugs. Some girls have become pregnant and have ended up having an abortion which has devastated their lives. Another real danger is that by the time the drugs reach the end user they've been mixed with or ‘cut' with different substances. This is because most of the people involved in the distribution chain use some of the drugs themselves. They then make up the difference by adding other substances. Many drugs are cut with substances that are even more dangerous than the drugs themselves and people end up using these cut drugs unsuspectingly. Because of this, you can sustain brain damage and even die the first time you use drugs.