PSA Topic: Above the Influence

 

 

This PSA should focus on the harmful effects of drugs and alcohol on children and adolescents.
 

All drugs will affect a person’s judgment, ability to form new memories, learning, reaction time, impulse control, and decision-making. Drugs are especially harmful to young people because the brain of a young person is not fully developed until the age of 25 years old.                                                                                                                                              
So, It’s Legal, So What?

• Marijuana has been legalized for adult use; however, it changes nothing for youth. It is illegal to buy or use marijuana for those who are under 21. It is also illegal for adults to provide marijuana products to those who are under 21.

• Marijuana is a mind-altering (psychoactive) drug produced by the Cannabis plant. THC is the main chemical ingredient that produces the psychoactive effect (makes someone ‘high’).

• Marijuana is highly addictive. 1 in 6 youth marijuana users becomes addicted.

• Marijuana can have permanently damaging effects on developing brains. It can lower a person’s IQ if they use it regularly in their teen years.

• Marijuana use is linked to school failure. Students who use marijuana tend to get lower grades and are more likely to drop out of school.

• Frequent marijuana use has been linked to depression, paranoia, and anxiety.

• Playing sports or video games? – marijuana can affect timing, coordination, and movement and weaken someone’s performance.

• Longtime marijuana users report being less satisfied with their lives, having memory and relationship problems, poorer mental and physical health, and less career success.

• Drivers who test positive for marijuana are over 2 times more likely to be involved in a crash.

​

Alcohol

• It is illegal to buy or consume alcohol under the age of 21. It is also illegal for adults to provide alcohol to those who are under 21.

• If a person drinks alcohol before the age of 15, they are 5 times more likely to be alcohol dependent than someone who waited until the drinking legal age of 21.

• Drinking 5 alcoholic beverages in one night can affect a person’s thinking ability for up to 3 days.

• Research shows that teens who drink score lower on tests than those who don’t and are more likely to perform poorly at school or even drop out of school.

• Alcohol consumption lowers speed, endurance, strength, and concentration - all key factors in an athlete’s success.

• One time getting drunk equals 14 days of lost training effects (for sports). Your individual decision to drink alcohol would affect the entire team.

• Underage drinking can result in other negative consequences such as alcohol poisoning, alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, other injuries, legal problems, etc.

​

Tobacco and Vaping

• The legal age to purchase tobacco or vape products is 21.

• Teenagers who vape and use e-cigarettes (electronic cigarettes) are more likely to try cigarettes and other tobacco products.

• Nicotine in either tobacco or vaping liquids is very addictive.

• You can start feeling addicted after smoking only a few cigarettes or after smoking only for a few days. It is so addictive that hardly anyone succeeds in quitting. Only about 1 out of every 20 who try to quit is able to make it tobacco-free for a year. People who start smoking when they’re young have the hardest time quitting.

• There are thousands of toxic chemicals in cigarette or vaping products. They affect the health of a person’s lungs, and some of them can cause cancer.

• Teens who smoke have many more colds, coughs, throat, and nose problems than those who don’t.

• Lung cancer kills more people than any other kind of cancer.

• Smoking cigarettes and vaping are major risk factors for a heart attack.

• Smoking causes bad breath, stains teeth and tongue, and helps tartar build-up on teeth.

• Teens who smoke are more likely to have panic attacks, anxiety problems, and depression.

​