Ririko N. Minnesota

Dear Next President

This is a letter about asking next president to act quickly to prevent deaths caused by drugs.

Dear Next President,

Today, there are many people using illicit drugs for nonmedical purpose in our society. Illicit drugs are such as cocaine, amphetamines, heroin, and hallucinogens. These drugs can change a person's body and brain in ways that last long after the person has stopped taking drugs, maybe even permanently. The number of people using illicit drugs and the number of the deaths caused by them are increasing. We must act quickly to prevent more of these unnecessary deaths.

I feel scared about this situation which is easy for people to obtain the drugs. In 2013, β€œThe Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)” conducts the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) an estimated 24.6 million Americans aged 12 or older(or 9.4 percent of the population)has used illicit drugs in the past. This number is up from 8.3 percent in 2002. When we look at the data by ages, the highest age is among people late teens and twenties. In 2013, 22.6 percent of 18 to 20-year-olds reported using illicit drugs in the past. I think we should not keep this society that easy for teenagers to get the drugs. We need to stop the distribution of drugs in our society now.

I think that the best way to solve this situation is to strengthen the security to stop the distribution of drugs. There are laws and organizations supervising drug users, but the most important thing is to decrease the number of drugs in our society. There are many drugs which are imported from other countries despite there is a law about the drug importation. To reduce drugs we can change the security of importation not to obtain dangerous things to people.

Future President, I hope you think long and hard about this problem, for if this is not solved, thousands and thousands of people will begin to die and thousands and families will grieve for their loved ones they have lost. This problem can become uncontrollable that there will be no stop to it, so we need to end it before it gets out of control!

Sincerely,

Ririko

Grade 11

Mendota Heights, MN