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Illegal Drug Use

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Submitted By twogodchasers
Words 976
Pages 4
Final Paper – Illegal Drug Use

ITT Technical Institute - Boise

Introduction
My position is that illegal drug use is harmful and dangerous. I hope to show in this paper some of the many physical effects illegal drug use can have on the human body. Second, I will show how the use of illegal drugs impacts families in general. Lastly, I will cover the effects of illegal drug use on society as a whole.
Background
I understand the counter position; others would say that the three most dangerous drugs are drugs that are currently legal. I agree with this statement somewhat, but it is actually the illegal use of the legal drug that is so harmful in this case. So many people and the media focus on illegal drug use and the effects of them that they totally ignore the problems associated with the illegal use of legal drugs and the many problems associated with this type of drug abuse. I believe that the illegal use of prescription drugs, cigarettes, and alcohol, are just as harmful as the drugs that the Federal Government has deemed to be an “illegal drug”. "The misuse of pain medication is probably one of our greatest drug addictions in America right now," Mike Gimbel, a drug expert from St. Joseph Medical Center, said in 2011 (Gimbel, 2011).
Another drug that is sometimes used illegally or abused has been around for decades. "Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in our country. I mean, we have over half a million people a year that die as a result of smoking," Scott Strayer, M.D., an associate professor in the department of family medicine at University of Virginia Health System, said in 2011 (Gimbel, 2011).
Last of the legal drugs that are still very harmful or deadly when illegally used or abused is one that you drink. British researchers recently conducted a study that analyzed 20 different drugs and there negative effects. They found

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