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Myth: Teenagers are too young to get addicted.
Fact: Addiction can occur at any age. Even unborn babies can get addicted because of their mother's drug use.
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Myth: You can stop using drugs at any time.
Fact: Stopping drug use is not easy. Withdrawal sickness, believing that you must have drugs, and being around people who use drugs can make stopping difficult. There are however, people and programs that can help.
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Myth: You have to use drugs for a long time before they can really hurt you.
Fact: Drugs can cause the brain to send the wrong signals to the body. This can make a person stop breathing, have a heart attack or go into a coma. This can happen the first time a drug is used.
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Myth: If you only buy drugs from friends, you'll get pure stuff.
Fact: Because drugs are illegal, no one can know what is really in them.
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Myth: If you're pregnant and use drugs, your body protects the baby.
Fact: Drugs can affect unborn babies as much or more than they affect the mother. Drug use during pregnancy can cause the baby to die or be born too early. A mother's drug use can damage the baby's body and mind.
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Myth:
If you smoked marijuana on the weekend, you'd be fine for school on Monday.
Fact: The effects of marijuana can last up to three days, decreasing memory, reflexes and coordination.
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Myth: As soon as a person feels normal, all the drug is out of their body.
Fact: Long after effects of a drug stop being felt, the drug can still be in the body. For example, cocaine can be found in the body up to one week and marijuana up to four weeks after a single use.
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Myth: Cocaine is only addictive if injected.
Fact: Anyway it is used - smoking, snorting, or injecting, cocaine is quickly addictive.
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Myth:
If you get drunk, coffee will sober you up.
Fact: Once alcohol is in the blood stream, only time will make you sober.
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Myth: Snuff and chewing tobacco are safe because there's no smoke.
Fact: Smokeless tobacco can cause mouth and throat ulcers, high blood pressure and dental problems. It can also lessen the senses of taste and smell and cause bad breath.
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Myth: Sniffing glue gives an instant rush. There isn't time for it to hurt you.
Fact: Glue or other inhalants enter the blood and go through the body in seconds. Sniffing large amounts can cause a heart attack. Inhalants can cause death from suffocation by replacing oxygen in the lungs.
