The cause and effect of substance abuse remain textbook. Most know that using and becoming addicted to drugs starts with the curiosity of drugs. Curiosity portrays a known feeling to explore a certain thing that mainly creative and young people feel. Addiction to drugs will always remain one of the effects of curiosity.

When large groups of people publically or secretly decide to try something new, especially together, more people start to hear about the event and feel the need to try it for themselves. Peer pressure may lead one to make a decision that will affect them forever. A wave of trying new things, now referred to as a trend, only explains why people commonly hear of, then try new things, but specific trends may turn out dangerous for some or all. 

Tobacco came to the U.S in the early 19th century in ways of chewing tobacco, where one chews on a piece of chewable tobacco for its taste then proceeds to spit it out. Years later, people recognized the long-term, harmful downsides to tobacco. Cigars make up another harmful yet popular form of tobacco, where a user puts tobacco in the chamber and bowl of a pipe then lights it and smokes it. Snuff tobacco comes from grounded or shredded tobacco leaves, which create two types of snuff, moist and dry. Dry snuff would become inhaled through the nose while moist snuff would rest mainly on the upper lip, lower lip, or between the cheek and gums. 

Nine out of 10 adults who smoke today first tried smoking around the age of 18. Every day in the U.S, almost 1,600 children under 18 smoke their first cigarette and almost 200 begin smoking every day. 84% of high school students and 74% of middle students, in a study of 30 days reported using a flavored tobacco product during the 30 days. This shows how young children increasingly started to try and use tobacco products at a young age. 

The credibility of maintaining these products belongs to those who sell these drugs. Adolescents who smoke or use other products cannot buy them at places where someone of age could buy them. A country or state may label the drugs an adolescent tries to buy as illegal based on that location’s state and federal laws. Most children smoke nicotine (the most common ‘drug’ used now) in vapes now because of easy access. A child might ask an older sibling or older friend to illegally buy nicotine for them. They might even illegally buy something more dangerous than nicotine, for example, hardcore or street drugs. 

“I’ve seen and heard someone asking for ‘nic’ from someone else at school. Someone has even asked me if I had any. It’s really interesting to me that no one seems to recognize that smoking is harmful to them right now, but they won’t realize it and see signs of it until they’re older,” said freshman Katie Divis.

The exploration of nicotine or tobacco scientifically leads to wanting or needing to try harder drugs. People, especially children or young adults, desperately need more and more nicotine after maintaining a routine of smoking. When these people become addicted, they tend to make the subject of their addiction their main priority and focus. This all starts with the abuse of one small thing, then progressively worsens.

Exposing someone young to materials that have long-term effects may change their life completely. Recognizing that one might abuse certain substances, and reporting it to an adult or someone of authority can essentially save their life. Reporting something may be more important than covering up for someone. Whether or not you ruin a friendship, you may live with the fact that you saved someone.