CHAPTER 1
Can't Stop
Drugs
Some drugs can help us get better if we take the right amount
We can find drugs in many places. Some are in the medicine cabinet or the drugstore.
These drugs affect our bodies and help them to heal when we are hurt or sick.
Write the names of some drugs that help us feel better.
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But remember, even a drug that can help us can hurt us if we take too much.
Too much of a healing drug can poison our bodies and make us sick.
There are other drugs that are harmful even when people take a little bit.
These drugs affect how our brains work, and how people think and feel. They are found in many different things people take.
Nicotine is a harmful drug found in cigarettes.
Alcohol is a drug found in many drinks like beer, scotch, whiskey, vodka and gin. Alcohol can be harmful when people drink too much.
Pot is the nickname for marijuana, another harmful drug, which hurts people's brains and changes the way they think and feel.
Other harmful drugs include heroin, cocaine and LSD.
Some drugs harm us even if we take a little bit. They hurt people's brains so that they think and act in strange ways.
Write the names of any harmful drugs you know about.
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What Happens?
When people take too much of an alcoholic drink like beer, whiskey or wine, they become "drunk". When they take too much of a harmful drug like marijuana or cocaine, we say they are "high".
Drunk or high people act strange. This is because the drug hurts the brain and the body no longer works properly.
Drunk or high people might forget things or act clumsily and fall down.
Sometimes they act angry, scary and mean or even crazy and then they fall asleep.
Look at the balloons below. Draw a string to the balloons that tell how a drunk or high person you know acted.
Once when my dad got drunk, he put his pipe in his mouth upside down and walked around thinking he was smoking it.
Can I Cause The Drinking?
Sometimes children think it is their fault when a family member is addicted. But this is never true. Children do not cause parents to drink or take drugs.
Why do you think some children think that the drug taking is their fault?
Draw or write about it.
Have you ever felt this way?
Maybe if I was good and did the right thing, my mom wouldn't drink so much.
Stuck To A Drug
Many children think they can stop the drinking or drug taking but they can't. The person who takes too much alcohol or drugs is addicted. Addicted means "stuck".
Addicted people might want to stop the drinking or drug taking. But it is a habit most find hard to stop even when they try very hard. Addicted people are stuck to their drug just as bubble gum sticks to your shoe.
Not everyone who takes an alcoholic drink is addicted. Only those who get stuck and can't stop.
What do you find hard to stop?
Licking Ice Cream Cones
An Addicted Person
Sometimes it is hard to like addicted people. At times they seem mean and bad. The drugs affect their body and brain. It is as if their body doesn't work properly.
They can't be themselves. The drug gets in the way of their love. They forget to treat people in a caring way.
But addicted people can get better if they decide to and ask for the help they need.
Addicted people can be anybody – teachers, doctors, dancers, mechanics or policemen.
Once they start taking their drugs, they can't stop.
They have a problem but they can decide to get help.
