October 20, 2016

Dear future President,

Imagine you go to sleep one day after seeing your good friend. Then the next day you wake up to a phone call saying your friend you just saw not even twenty four hours died from one thing, drugs. Sadly many people have to go through this. People of all ages can and have gone through losing someone from drugs. Although I have not physically lost someone from drugs, I have emotionally. One person who I lost to drugs was someone who was suppose to be very close to me and to teach me what is right and what is wrong. Although he was able to teach that drugs were wrong, he taught me it in the wrong way. I know from this person that drugs can tear a family apart. It can leave a child parentless, or to witness their parent or family member go through something that no child should. With the access to drugs many teens, young adults, and adults are dying leaving their loved ones behind sad, and lonely. America needs to put a stop to this. Many young lives are being tossed away from something that can be controlled and maintained by the people around them and also even prevented from. I think that the U.S should start to slowly make all drugs illegal and cut off any access so people can not attain it and abuse it. To save millions of lives we must try to accomplish that so people do not have to lose their children, family members, and friends.

According to the substance abuse and Mental Health Services Administration since 2007 the number of heroin users in the U.S has nearly doubled. Half of all first-time users are younger than twenty six years old. According to the Associated Press, the number of deaths caused by heroin overdose has shot up at least fifty percent over the past decade. Adults, young adults, and even teenagers are now starting to do drugs including heroin. Not just doing but overdosing and selling. People are wasting parents money, their money, and doing unthinkable things to keep the addiction going. Having people who have not even gotten to fully experience life yet can not because they are throwing away their life for drugs. They are destroying their relationships with others, literally and figuratively throwing their life away, and having death at an early age all for these addictive and destructive thing called drugs. For teens it might stop them from being able to go to college or wasting their college tuition. For young adults in college it prevents them from maybe graduating and completing goals they had in life.

In many states mostly all drugs are illegal. In others though some drugs are legal giving access to teens, young adults, and adults in that state and even other states. In all every drug should be illegal everywhere in the U.S no matter what the severities of the drugs. It should not even matter if it does not do much damage because in reality it still can do long term damages even if it is not as bad as other drugs. I believe this can work because according to the website Policy.Mc Portugal decriminalized drugs everywhere and since doing that they have not been run into the ground by a nation of drug addictions. I believe to make this happen we have to start slow by showing kids at assemblies and at appropriate ages what drugs can do to you and the people around them. To let them hear personal stories about people who did drugs and what they had to grow through and what was the consequences from them. I am asking you this next President, please help save the lives of millions of teens and young adults from the terrible thing we call drugs. Then proceed to make our way up to preventing drugs. Make all drugs illegal in every state. If needed medically then have them get the treatment from a professional so people do not take advantage. Hopefully many lives of all ages can be saved.

Sincerely,

Jade Carter