Preview

Addiction By Carle Meyers Summary

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
599 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Addiction By Carle Meyers Summary
Over 20 million Americans above the age of 12 have an addiction, and 90% of those with an addiction began drinking, smoking, or using illicit drugs before the age of 18. Many of these addictions are products of peer pressure and students attempting to be the life of the party. In Cole Meyers “Addiction” he shows us how the continued use of drugs can give one a short term gains to increase his or her social status; however, in the long term, addiction strips the individual of his or her identity.
Cole Meyers establishes the main character’s social status in the opening scene. “I met Donny at Maria’s Party when I was fifteen. I was pretty blitzed’ caused they were handing out PBRs like they grew them in their backyard” (48). Meyers tone in this opening statement tells the reader that the main character is an avid partier and started drinking at an early age. Early on, Meyers eludes that the main character was not very studious by
…show more content…
Now I’m alone, scrounging for cash, looking for clean socks, wondering when it’s my time” (51). Once a party king in high school, the narrator is now suffering from the turmoil that lie in wake of the party lifestyle. Addiction has consumed the narrator’s life. “pastor jack shows me how to wait in line for food at the shelter and I wonder what’s in his wallet” (51). The narrator is no longer concerned about social relationships or food, but more concerned with how can he attain his next high. Myers states That the narrator is beginning to realize there is no finish line to this race, and only one way out.
With the constant rise in advertisement of entry level drugs such as: Alcohol, Marijuana, and Tobacco. The global Addiction pandemic will only continue to rise and take many young lives such as the story’s narrator. In Cole Myers “Addiction”, the main point of enfaces is that early on drug use can be fun and may even get the most popular guy on campus, but overtime the drugs will slowly start to tear you

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    As the story develops the boy’s life deteriorates. Even though he was top of the class in school, he had to repeat a year as he lost interest in school and began drinking. When he went on his hockey trip, he was spoiled by “one of the better families” (31) which showed him of all the things he couldn’t have. This is when he began his drinking on a regular basis. He broke into the theatre, after breaking…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Peer pressure is a big issue for all teenagers in our society. Many teens start doing drugs to be part of the group, and never expect to become an addict. Slightly more than 25% of adolescents, ages 14 to 17, have used illegal drugs (Huebeck). The National Survey on Drug Use and Health states that 8% of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17, which is over 2 million, in the United States meet diagnostic criteria for abuse or dependence on illicit drugs. Some studies show that the most susceptible teenagers are those in the “popular” group, because they pay attention to what their peers value. While other studies show that the teenagers who socially are not accepted have a higher likelihood of using, and becoming addicted to, drugs.…

    • 659 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Essay On Homeless Youth

    • 1560 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Youth do not know how to control themselves when it comes to these addictions. They often abuse their power. They do not know when to stop or when to seek help when needed. These addictions of drugs and alcohol can start from the influences of friends and family. Once they are hooked onto these substances, they have a hard time letting go, like a leech feeding on the blood of their host. Most children have easy access to drugs or alcohol because their parents use these substances at home and leave them around the house. Youth will do anything in their power to find a way to get these substances in their hands. The American Journal of Public Health reports 80% of homeless youth use drugs or alcohol to self-medicate for dealing with the traumatic experiences and abuse they have in their lives (Greene, Ennett, Ringwalt 231). Due to the many traumatic experiences in their lives, it is difficult to stop the cycle of…

    • 1560 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Every High School : The Secret History of America 's True Drug Addiction. New York,…

    • 1515 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Allure of Drugs

    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Some teenagers see drugs and alcohol in TV. They see how the people they want to be use it all the time. There is a show called “True Life: I am an addict” In this episode they show different people and their drug addictions. Many of these people say they tried drugs at a very young age and that their reason was because of their peers. A young girl at the age of 18 says she uses alcohol to feel pretty, to get attention from other people, and because she enjoys the feeling.…

    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    To have known so many people that have struggled with drug addiction in their teenage years it has become very apparent what a vital time in one’s life it is to know the dangers of abusing drugs as a teenager. Even though not all teens abuse drugs, it is an epidemic in the United States because more teens are turning to drugs to escape or use out of boredom. Take my younger brother for instance; he has struggled with drug addiction from the time he was a teenager into his early twenties. My brother Matthew started off smoking pot and drinking socially out of boredom. Then he found the drug crack cocaine to escape from reality as his world came crashing down around him. Once he found that drug he went overboard and started stealing electronics and pawning them for money to buy his drugs. From there he would also beg people for money and obtain it to get his fix. He would clean up for about a week at a time but would fall right back into it. He would blast his music in his room while he was high on drugs. He would also disappear for days at a time while on a drug binge. After stealing everything in my mother’s house my mother finally committed him to a drug rehabilitation center. The first one failed. The second one failed. Matthew just could not get off the drugs. He to this day struggles with drug addiction, and he is now twenty four. However Matthew is just one of many with stories like these. Let us look at how many others are a part of this vicious cycle known as drug abuse among teens.…

    • 1699 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Coming from an average suburban upbringing, the protagonist of the story displays identity confusion based on his own background and the actions and influences of his peers as well as the media of the time. In a setting as quiet as the town, sheer lack of excitement was enough incentive to go out and get into mischief for him and his peers. The “nature” of their actions were, to him, human nature in the…

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Statistics shows that drug use has really increased amongst youngsters. In 2001, 34.5 % twelve year old and older teenagers tried marihuana, but in 2002 this number increased to 37 %. In 2001, 1.2 % of teenagers of the same age group tried heroin, and this number also increased to 1.5 % in 2002. These numbers show that more and more youngsters are becoming addicted to drugs. (Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003, pg. 136)…

    • 1325 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Drug Use and Delinquency

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages

    According to studies adolescents who experienced substance abuse gave several reasons in why they turned to drugs or alcohol such as “my friends pressured me” or “I wanted to feel good and get high,” “to have a good time with friends,” or to “escape from my problems” (Titus, Godley & White 2006, p33.). Adolescents may also be influenced by other negative events that may be happening in the adolescent’s life. Research typically shows the reasons related to starting drugs or alcohol is peer-social behavior, dealing with negative conditions or feelings, or achieving a satisfying state (Titus, Godley & White, 2006). Studies reveal positive and negative emotions in the understanding of deviant behavior in youths’. Most teenagers generally use drugs for gratification however the adolescents who may become addicted say they are unhappy with past decisions or current situations (Brunelle, Cousineau, & Brochu, (2005).…

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In society, drugs have been the downfall for many people. There are many reasons that a person may use drugs such as: peer pressure, relief of stress, increased energy, to relax, to relieve pain, to escape reality, to feel more self esteem, and for recreation ("Drug addiction and drug abuse," 2011). What is it that causes the obsession and compulsion to use drugs? Why can some people stop and others go on to become addicts? Addiction is often now defined by the continuing, compulsive nature of the drug use despite physical and/or psychological harm to the user and society ("Drug addiction and drug abuse," 2011). MRI’s have shown evidence that the brain of an addict has specific abnormalities of tissue malfunction that non-addicts do not have (About.com 2004). Drug addiction is a disease that can be defined as a disordered condition resulting from the effect of deficiency or imbalance on the body. Drug addiction can be considered almost like a cancer or virus because it takes over one’s body and can cause detrimental physical and mental effect (Antiessays.com, 2012) s. Addiction is a disease that affects not only the person taking the drugs, but also their family, friends and the community around them.…

    • 1969 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although people have been using and abusing substances for as long as these substances have existed, the study of of addictions with the exception of alcoholism did not really emerge until the 1960's-1970's. Through out the last decade multiple changes to how addiction is viewed have occurred. Due to advances in the medical field and a better understanding of the chemistry of the brain addiction is now viewed as a disease instead of just a lack of morals. Because of the prevalence of wide spread usage of opiods, cocaine, and marijuana in the 60's and 70's more comprehensive research was deemed necessary to not only treat but effectively prevent drug addiction and alcoholism. It was also during this time frame that different classes of substances were created and we see a shift in how drug offenders were handled from the once harsher punishments to required treatment programs.…

    • 544 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Go Ask Alice Addiction

    • 1882 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Growing up and entering the teenage years exposes young people to new things that they have never had to deal with before, such as drugs. Many children do not know how to handle a situation when faced with drugs, which opens the possibility of bad decision making. Just one bad decision can lead to a lifetime of addiction and struggling. The use of dangerous drugs is a growing issue amongst teens in real life while also depicted in modern works of literature such as Crank and Go Ask Alice.…

    • 1882 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Teenage drug abuse is one of the largest problems in society today and the problem grows and larger every year. Drugs are a pervasive force in our culture today. To expect kids not to be influenced by the culture of their time is as “unrealistic as believing in the tooth fairy,” (Jauman 140). Teens may feel pressured by their friends to try drugs, they may have easy access to drugs, they may use drugs to rebel against their family or society, or they may take an illegal drug because they are curious about it or the pleasure that it gives…

    • 1360 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    What do we think when we know that the use of illicit drugs in America has been decreasing over the past decade? Should this be a bad thing or a good thing? Generally, people would think this is good and that our nation is certainly progressing as a whole. But to be honest, how is it possible to have this sort of decrease in a free will country such as America. The answer to this is the new era of drugs. Prescription drugs are the reason why the use of illegal drugs such as marihuana, cocaine, heroin, crack and inhalants has decreased in the last decade. Teenagers are finding new ways to get high, unfortunately in a much more dangerous way and as addictive as illegal drugs. As a matter of a fact these drugs can contribute to lifetime health complications. Now, a question you may ask is why do teenagers abuse prescription drugs in America? In this paper, the major reasons of why this is happening will be briefly discussed.…

    • 1200 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sociology

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In 2005, 19.7 million Americans over the age of 12 reported they were current illicit drug users. Nearly 18 million Americans are alcoholics. Globally, more than 76 million individuals have diagnosable drinking problems and about 15 million people have drug use disorders. Drug and alcohol abuse affects not the only the user, but also his or her family and friends, workplace, school, neighbors and community. In chapter 12 of “ Social Problems, Community, Policy and Social Actions,” by Anna –Leon Guerrero, the topic of drug and alcohol abuse is discussed.…

    • 661 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays