"Sleeping Off Them Zannies!"

ZANS! ZANS! ZANS! Ughh! How much I hate those things. How do Xanax a.k.a “Zans” really make you feel? What is the real reason of people popping zans? I know so many people who pop them or want to try one, just because that's what everybody else is doing. This is mostly for a teenage audience, cause the people that I know are popping them are in my age group. I want to inform them about the dangers.
The reason for companies and doctors giving people Xanax is to treat anxiety and panic disorders things like depression, and it slows down the nervous system, but still people abuse them. I've seen many people slob, and they can't talk right, or they either just fall into a deep sleep. I guess it makes them feel good and it puts them to sleep. Xanax can put you to sleep real quick and they make you look real drunk, your words become slurred, you can't keep your eyes open and their head starts to droop, and also some people slob a lot. That's disgusting, right? When people use Zans way too much they have a higher risk of overdosing, or it could cause an allergic reaction. So I don't understand why people want to pop Zans.

image courtesy of
xanaxkingbiwheethe.ciki.me

I want to talk about the bars, specifically the "Yellow School Buses" which is highly abused and has a street value of $2 a mg. The name comes from the 2mg Xanax that is shaped like a bar and is yellow and it can be broken into 4 pieces of .5 mg each. There is also a white colored Zan and the big difference between them is the company that makes them. Everyone says that the yellow ones are actually stronger than the white ones. I have interviewed two teens to learn more about why they "pop zans." One teen stated they currently use zans and the other answered they don't use it anymore. The person that answered no, I asked "Why don't you use zans anymore?" His response was "They started making me tweak (act crazy) too much." so I said "You figured they were bad for you?" and he responded "Yea." I asked the other teen "Why does he pop zans?" He responded "Because they make me feel good and I just love drugs." I followed up with "You know they're not good for you right?" and he said "Yea, I know and guess what I don't care." Being addicted can cause problems with memory, and people don't really care, because it's what they are addicted to, and that's what make them happy, so they don't care about what effects it causes for them. That's crazy isn't it how he knows what they do to him, but he doesn't care. The other person finally noticed that they weren't good for him and was able to quit. He felt his body was getting to weak, and he was going too far with all the drugs he was doing, since he knows about the dangers he would probably also get people to not pop them.

In just the year 2005 there was 57,419 trips to the emergency room related to the use of Zans, and in 2011 it grew to 123,744 visits. The visits were from overdosing, or people feeling a change in their body. I just think if you doctor doesn't give you a prescription for Xanax, then there's no point of taking them.

References:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gquery/?term=xanax
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Yellow%20School%20Buses
http://www.drugs.com/xanax.html

"Sipping Lean"

          What do people even mean when they say they're "leaning." The official drug name for "lean" is actually promethazine. Most people know what promethazine is, but others don't. Promethazine is a drug, but it isn't a drug that you can just buy in Walgreens somewhere because it has to be prescribed from a doctor to a patient who is actually in need of the prescription. Promethazine is used to treat colds when people are sick and relieving certain allergy symptoms such as sneezing, runny noses, itchy or watery eyes, and even skin rashes. Teens in this generation tend to attract to lean and drink it for pleasure. I interviewed a teen about his experience with lean, whose name will remain unknown, to learn more about why he drinks it. I'm not the type to tell people what they should and should not do because that doesn't help a person decide a correct route. However, promethazine is not the correct route to take unless it is prescribed, especially when you're taking too much at once.

Why Do Teens Use Lean?

image courtesy of www.tumblr.com

Lean is no longer just a drug, it is now a culture. When people use lean, they tend to mix the promethazine into sprite and jolly ranchers. People have been drinking lean for the fun of it for a long time. Rapper, Lil Wayne, use to quote in his songs certain things about it,  making people more aware of how lean was being used. Although people were aware of it, it wasn't that popular within the teen community. It seems as though drinking lean for the fun of it just came out of nowhere for my generation. Some teens abuse promethazine because they enjoy it and they like how it makes them feel on the inside or even just because of the taste. I interviewed a young teen about his use of lean and he said "I put it in pop with some ice and I drink it because I like it. One day I was with my bros and they was pouring up and I'm like 'Dang bro what is that?' and they like 'Some act' and I'm like 'Well let me get a cup.' So I drank it and I got addicted after that." 

Side Effects Of Lean

The teen said he was not aware of the side effects of lean nor does he care about them. Even though that may sound horrible, it's true. There are many teens in the world that are not aware of the side effects and sometimes they don't even care. According to a website called Drugs, there are many side effects of promethazine. However, it is known that nervous system side effects have been more frequent than other side effects. The nervous system side effects are listed below:

• excessive sedation
• drowsiness 
• fatigue
• paradoxical excitation 
• confusion
• disorientation 
• tremors
• convulsive seizures
• decreased motor coordination

Lean is very popular, although the facts behind it aren't entirely known. A person can't tell the next person not to do lean, but that person can be told that lean might not be the best route. Yeah it makes these teens feel good or relaxed, but there can also be consequences to drinking lean as well. For instance, Lil'Wayne and Rick Ross have abused lean and now have seizures do their drinking of lean. In addition, it even caused the eventual death of Pimp C which teens in my generation might don't even know about. Lean is not just pleasure, it can sometimes lead to pain. Learn more about lean!

References

 http://www.drugs.com/sfx/promethazine-side-effects.html

http://revolt.tv/news/lil-wayne-admits-past-lean-use-led-to-seizures/E4F24A66-3C1B-4363-884E-F0EA04B7B86A

http://www.side-effects-site.com/paradoxical-reaction.html

http://livertox.nih.gov/Promethazine.htm

Don't Smoke One

    
by Jalen Y.

Many people say that marijuana is the best thing they've ever had, but is it really? Many people smoke marijuana because it can enhance certain abilities in their bodies. The drug can enhance certain abilities in the body and can give you energy to do things but that doesn't take away from the bad things it can do to your body. People that smoke marijuana tend to inhale deeply and hold their breaths which exposes the lungs to more carcinogens that may lead to cancer. Within a few minutes after inhaling marijuana smoke, a person's heart rate speeds up, the bronchial passages relax and become enlarged, and blood vessels in the eyes expand, making their eyes look red. The heart rate, which is normally 70 to 80 beats per minute, may increase by 20 to 50 beats per minute, or may even double in some cases.  Long term use of the drug can lead to addiction, increased risk of bronchitis, anxiety, and depression. Why would you take a drug that can potencially ruin your health just so u can have fun? This drug controls your body and turns you into a puppet. Do u really want something controling your every move?  

 Rehabilitation

There are many ways to get help for marijuana abuse. The best place you should go for drug abuse is a rehab. Rehab will walk you through the steps that are needed to beat the addiction. Some of the long term effects of marijuana are reduced resistance to common illnesses, suppression of the immune system, growth disorders, increase of abnormally structured cells in the body, reduction of male sex hormones,
rapid destruction of lung fibers and injuries to the brain could be permanent and reduced sexual capacity. Rehab can help with these problems. Go to your local hospital for more information.
 

                                                     Video: How Marijuana affects the body