» Items that are illegal to people under 18/21

I dunno. The thing that gets me is that you only have to do it once to get addicted and ruin youur life. That's why it's such a sucessful enterprise.

Nobody gives in to peer pressure.

It's peer salesmanship that's the real danger.

I dunno. The things kids do to be cool and fit in can be pretty extreme.

Actually some people try smoking but they hate it. Its not everyone who take a single puff and get addicted to it.

I believe its more of a case of peer pressure and everyone wanting to conform. So even if they hate drugs they take it anyway because everyone else does. And then it becomes a habit, so you get addicted.

Nobody gives in to peer pressure.

It's peer salesmanship that's the real danger.

YES THEY DO.

People get dared to try this stuff. People try drugs because their friends do it. People take drugs because their 'friends' tell them to. They are all cases of peer pressure.

I bet if the less dangerous drugs were made legal (Cannabis is said to help people with MS, and I know this works because my dad has a friend with MS who tried the same treatment) then perhaps people would move away from drinking and smoking (which kills FAR more than pretty much everything combined).

Thing is, making everything illegal means that the only high adults have left is getting into bed with someone. Plus, once everything is made illegal, everything will be taboo, so everyone will want to try these drugs and will be far more likely to get addicted.

Nobody gives in to peer pressure.

It's peer salesmanship that's the real danger.

YES THEY DO.

People get dared to try this stuff. People try drugs because their friends do it. People take drugs because their 'friends' tell them to. They are all cases of peer pressure.

I bet if the less dangerous drugs were made legal (Cannabis is said to help people with MS, and I know this works because my dad has a friend with MS who tried the same treatment) then perhaps people would move away from drinking and smoking (which kills FAR more than pretty much everything combined).

Thing is, making everything illegal means that the only high adults have left is getting into bed with someone. Plus, once everything is made illegal, everything will be taboo, so everyone will want to try these drugs and will be far more likely to get addicted.

It may just be semantics, but usually anytime someone pushes a person, that person tends to be stubborn (and a bit angry) and push back.

The peer "pressure" is fear of not being part of the group.

Perhaps the teen being pressured had been "sold" on how "great" that group is.

I guess my point is that teens don't voluntarily do things for an enemy.

It's usually because of a group or a person that they want to please (or not disappoint) in some way, or that they have been "sold" on how important this bad behavior is for their image within the group.

Hence the salesmanship.

Anyway, as a parent, that's how I look at it.

Nobody gives in to peer pressure.

It's peer salesmanship that's the real danger.

YES THEY DO.

People get dared to try this stuff. People try drugs because their friends do it. People take drugs because their 'friends' tell them to. They are all cases of peer pressure.

I bet if the less dangerous drugs were made legal (Cannabis is said to help people with MS, and I know this works because my dad has a friend with MS who tried the same treatment) then perhaps people would move away from drinking and smoking (which kills FAR more than pretty much everything combined).

Thing is, making everything illegal means that the only high adults have left is getting into bed with someone. Plus, once everything is made illegal, everything will be taboo, so everyone will want to try these drugs and will be far more likely to get addicted.

It may just be semantics, but usually anytime someone pushes a person, that person tends to be stubborn (and a bit angry) and push back.

The peer "pressure" is fear of not being part of the group.

Perhaps the teen being pressured had been "sold" on how "great" that group is.

I guess my point is that teens don't voluntarily do things for an enemy.

It's usually because of a group or a person that they want to please (or not disappoint) in some way, or that they have been "sold" on how important this bad behavior is for their image within the group.

Hence the salesmanship.

Anyway, as a parent, that's how I look at it.

But when it's somebody you've known all your life and really admire, sometimes it's pretty hard.
Everybody wants to be like their friends.
Don't ask me how I went my entire school career without getting drunk or high, let alone touching the stuff.

why would i have fear of not being part of the group i've never been part of the group and the way some of them act I know I don't want to be.

Dude, getting left out is NOT fun. I get left out of stuff all the time, but this is my fault as I don't get along with peole and don't make much an effort to. In my mind I kinda see myself as one man against the world when intelectually I know it isn't that way. But I still act it out.

A parents constant battle is how to keep the influence of the world away from their kids.

Anything you’ve done to end up not involved with harmful behavior is to your credit, and I don’t think kids who’ve stayed away from this stuff get nearly the recognition they deserve.

Yeah, I don't really have any pressure on me to do drugs or anything so I don't really deserve any credit, do I?

If you live somewhere on Earth, don't worry, you will.

Take the credit now, and bank it.

When you deny the peer salesmanship that peers who are hooked on this junk will try to give to you, (because who wants to stand there and be an idiot by themselves - they want some company!), then take this credit that you've banked, and spend it in those moments.

People who get involved with these substances eventually come to their senses, and always spend the better part of the rest of their lives fighting against these things just trying to reverse the damage, and sometimes they win the battle...

...sometimes they don't.

A parents constant battle is how to keep the influence of the world away from their kids.

Anything you’ve done to end up not involved with harmful behavior is to your credit, and I don’t think kids who’ve stayed away from this stuff get nearly the recognition they deserve.

You kidding me? We don't get any recognition.
Except people I talk to are amazed at it.

The best way to avoid peer pressure/salemanship to take drugs is to avoid trying or even wanting to be part of that group that you know would influence you to.

Alternatively you and a bunch of anti-druggies could make a new awesomecool group that influences people NOT to take drugs. People wanting to join would not take drugs to fit in. People inside get encouragement for not taking drugs.

Something like that is happening nows anyway.

Those usually end up as a fail as they are coordinated by concerned adults and they go over the top with it and it gets annoying even to me, and I think tabbaco should be illegal

The problem is that some people try too hard. That usually screws a perfectly good plan up.

Man, I've been pressured by so many people to drink or smoke. I have yet to touch the stuff. It's not because it's illegal, but because I have no reason to try it. I am who I am to them, and that's usually sufficient, just whenever a party comes around, that's a different story. Still, part of it has to do with willpower. I understand not everyone is uinder the same situation, but willpower plays a part and only you can decide whether you want to start down one road or the other.

I dunno. I just don't like it being legal but I don't like the goverment deciding what I can or can't buy either. I have yet to pressured to try the stuff. I am an outcast by nature, thus the only person that I consider my peer is... well... myself.