The 21st Century Teenager

Being a teenager in the 21st century is rather daunting. It is hard to avoid the constant bombardment of pop culture and media images. Today’s teens are no longer worrying about acne and puberty and what they are going to do after graduating from high school; rather they are faced with more life-threatening and life-changing issues which for their age and considering their mental development, is very tough. I remember when I was a teenager; it was quite different from when I was just a little child who saw the world in rainbow colors. As a teenager, I felt different, thought differently and saw everybody differently. I became more aware of myself and others around me. Although I wasn’t yet a full adult, I was growing into one every day and I began to see life in a different way. I didn’t understand why I was so depressed, sad, angry, frustrated and cold. More so, I didn’t want to be told what to do anymore and as much as I could, I didn’t even want to do what I was told to do. I realized I wasn’t the only one feeling or acting like this, there were many other teenagers with similar experiences but it hasn’t always been this way with teenagers, especially in the older centuries. Although there was no major event or trend that signifies the teenagers of the 1900s, they simply did as their parents told them to do because there was more respect for authority back then, which is a far cry from the rebellious way many 21st century teenagers now live.

There is no doubt that media and entertainment has had a profound influence on teenagers in the 20th and 21st century. Young people no longer see their parents as role models; rather movie and music stars have now being adopted as their role models. Many put up the posters of these celebrities in their rooms and literally idolize them. My guess is that many parents thought the only influence they were up against was TV but they didn’t see social media coming. Little did they know that social media would have an even greater influence on their teenagers. 

A CNN documentary titled #Being13 was done in October 2015 to show just how much time teenagers spend on social media and what it means to them. It was a big discovery and a huge shock. One 13 year old teenager actually said "I would rather not eat for a week than get my phone taken away. It's really bad, I literally feel like I'm going to die." Another 13 year old said, "When I get my phone taken away, I feel kind of naked, I do feel kind of empty without my phone." Many of them now see social media as their life, a world that is more real than their physical world. It’s almost as if the number of friends, likes, followers, retweets they have on social media is much more important than their school grades. I once heard of a tragic story of a young teenage boy in UK who committed suicide because a group of boys threatened to post his nude picture on Facebook and make it viral. Apparently, the boy wanted to send his picture to a girl he liked but mistakenly sent it to another boy who then showed his friends. Out of fear of having is nude picture seen by the whole world, he committed suicide. 

The effect of technology, media and entertainment has given rise to deep-seated issues that teenagers are facing today which wouldn’t even have been heard of 100 or 200 years ago. Issues such as teenage pregnancy, abortion, cyberbullying, school violence, shootings, eating disorders, obesity, choking game, drug abuse, and smoking, mental health issues and so on, in fact the list is endless. As if all these are not enough, many teenagers even have to live with abusive parents who are into drugs or alcoholism. With all these cases, one begins to wonder where to draw the line between teenage-hood and adulthood. When teenagers are facing problems that adults also face or even the ones that adults find shocking, (such as choking game which involves teens who try to strangulate themselves or have a friend strangle or choke them until they pass out). Unfortunately, too many of these kids who pass out especially when they do something to choke themselves when they are alone don't ever wake up. It is becoming clearer and clearer that the only thing differentiating this young group of people from adults is their age and not the weight of the burdens they have to bear. 

100 years ago, before the TV and internet came; teenagers only had to do what their parents told them to do. There wasn’t much external influence that told them to do otherwise or try something they knew their parents would not approve off. Although media and technology have had good impacts on the society in many ways, the side effects it is having on young people is so much more than anyone could have envisaged. Should we or can we even go back to the times when there was no TV and internet? Certainly not. But do we as a society have the responsibility and obligation to caution our young people about what they should watch and stay away from, absolutely yes. I believe the best time to do this is not when children become teenagers but when they are still as little as four, five, six and older. At this stage, their minds are still forming and whatever they are taught or warned against can stick with them for a long time. Waiting till they are already in their teens could be too late because by then, they would want to be independent and it could be hard to tell them what to do or not do. 

References

http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/05/health/being-13-teens-social-media-study/

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/teenagers/a/0208_teen_issue.htm

Modesty in Dressing

From A Culture of Decency to Nudity

Choosing what to wear can be an exciting and yet a daunting task for many women. There are times when I could take almost 15 mins or more trying on different cloths to see the ones that match and fit. I know this is the experience of many women too. However, there is a sage that says, “You will be addressed the way you are dressed,” and this simply means that whatever you wear determines how people will treat you and the kind of attention or response you get. Perhaps this understanding has made a lot of women and men pay more attention to what they wear and how they wear it. The wardrobe is not just a place to store or arrange cloths anymore; it has become an essential part of everyone’s life. In fact, it has taken on a life and career of its own. I have a friend who started out as a wardrobe consultant a couple of years back in my home country and she was pretty good at it, even though it was not a popular profession in our African culture. 

The clothing industry has experienced so much transformation over the centuries and it is constantly driven by trends. There was a time when women dressed without exposing any part of their body apart from their head. During this age, it was a sign of modesty to cover up any suggestive part that could attract the opposite sex. But gradually, as the world and the people in it began to evolve, certain things that were considered modesty started to fall away from the cultural fabric of the society. 

When I was preparing for my wedding, I wanted a gown that would not be revealing but all the beautiful ones that I really liked came as tube gowns which I didn’t think were appropriate. Silently, I wondered why most of the gowns had to be tubes. I thought the manufacturers were the ones changing the styles and compelling women to wear revealing gowns. Eventually, I learnt that it wasn’t the manufacturers but the customers themselves that wanted the gowns that way. I went with a friend of mine sometimes last year to shop for her wedding gown somewhere in New York and all the gowns that were available were tubes (just like my case), but she wanted something that wasn’t too revealing as well. She then asked the attendant at the bridal store why they didn’t have gowns that weren’t tubes and she said because people are not buying them. Brides stopped buying them so the manufacturers had to make gowns that people wanted. I was quite shocked to learn that revealing gowns were as a result of customers’ preference and taste and not the manufacturer’s manipulation. This saddened me. How did the human race get to this point? The point where it is now fashionable and socially acceptable to dress in skimpy and revealing cloths, exposing the parts of the body that shouldn’t be seen by the opposite sex? 

I once heard about a story of Muhammed Ali and his daughters. They came to see their father and were dressed in skimpy and revealing cloths. He usually hides behind the door whenever they come just to scare them (I guess that was something he used to do with them when they were much younger). They laughed and played and after a while he sat one of them on his laps and talked with them. He asked them were gold is found, and they said deep in the earth. He then asked his daughters why it is hidden deep in the ground and out of everyone’s sight, and they said because it is precious and expensive. So he pointed out to them that their bodies are more precious than gold so it should not be exposed to eye of everyone. He told them that since their bodies are very precious, they should not reveal it but cover it up nicely. 

The world has gotten to the point were good is termed as bad and bad is now seen as good. What was once a taboo is now a social lifestyle. 

Let’s take a look at how women dress in sports, tennis for example. Back in the 19th century, female tennis players wore floor length dresses and those who wore knee length didn’t go without long stockings. Some even wore bonnets and corsets. Younger girls were allowed to wear calf length skirts because they were still considered school girls. But this style didn’t last for too long. In 1926, French tennis player Suzanne Lenglen wore a revealing calf-length cotton frock with short sleeves. This daring style encouraged many women to begin to loosen up and inculcate a bit of fashion and exposure into their costumes. One would have thought that the sense of modesty would still be retained but as women began to dress fashionably for their matches, little by little the skirts began to grow shorter and the tops more revealing. Up until the 70’s, women dressed modestly for their matches. Their skirts, although were shorter but just a little above their knee. Some still maintained the long sleeves while others wore short sleeves. At the dawn of the 20th century, everything changed. From the knee length skirts to the bump shorts and miniskirts and from the long sleeves shirts to the bra tops and tank tops. 

Some people in an opinion poll said the costumes had to be changed to draw male viewership because in general, men watch sports more than women. It was also stated that it's more socially acceptable for women to wear less clothing and in any sport it's ideal for a person to wear less restrictive clothing, thus, less fabric. Wearing less restrictive clothing is understandable but where do we draw the line between decent and indecent? Some people in the opinion poll also stated that the difference between men's and women's sports is publicity and image. Male sports get more publicity than female sports. So in order to give more publicity to female sports, women need to wear what will make the male folks stay glued to the TV, hence the need for skimpy costumes. 

This trend cannot only be seen in female sports but in other aspects of the society. The sense of modesty in dressing and virtually every aspect of our culture is long gone. Many women now live by a perception of “if you have it, flaunt it.” If you have nice boobs, why hide it? If you have hot legs, put it on display for the world to see. But it wasn’t so during the days of our fore bearers. Women dressed decently and covered up the sexy or should I say the, “tempting” parts of their bodies and guess what? They were respected for it. They were seen as noble, dignified women whether they were rich or poor. Maybe the Victorian and Edwardian garments that they wore back then were too tight and it definitely won’t fit into today’s culture, but modesty can still be applied. However, it is fast declining. Today, modesty and decency doesn’t sell any more, rather sex sells. So does STIs and diseases, teenage pregnancy and abortion, broken relationships and suicide. Our fore bearers may not have had all the education and exposure as we have today, but they had an understanding of what is right and true and they held on to it. Why have we thrown that away for what is wrong and false and sadly killing us? 

An Expose On The Different Makeups Worn In The Past

The desire to look good is deeply ingrained in every human being, women and men alike. For centuries, both women and men have been wearing cosmetics made of different ingredients to create certain kind of looks they believed was befitting for their status. Makeup can be traced back to ancient Egypt where many Egyptian tombs contained makeup canisters. Some of the ingredients were dangerous and even lethal while some had beneficial factors. As civilization began to change, so did make-up, the cosmetics that were used way back then has been greatly refined and repackaged in almost every century. 

Ancient Egypt

The use of scented oils and ointment was used in ancient Egypt by men and women to clean and soften their skin and mask body odor. Oils and creams were used for protection against the hot Egyptian sun and dry winds. As a matter of fact, cosmetics were an integral part of Egyptian hygiene and health. Natural ingredients like, myrrh, thyme, marjoram, chamomile, lavender, lily, peppermint, rosemary, cedar, rose, aloe, olive oil, sesame oil, and almond oil provided the basic ingredients of most perfumes that Egyptians used. Egyptian women decorated their eyes by applying dark green color to the under of their eye lid and their eye lids and lashes were darkened with Kohl which is today known as Kajal. It is made from combination of burnt almonds, oxidized copper, different-colored coppers ores, lead, ash, soot, ochre and galena (which has disinfectant qualities). Ancient Egyptians used a type of rouge to stain their lips and cheeks. Fingernails and hair were not left out in ancient times. Egyptian women painted their nails and colored their hair with Henna, a dye obtained from the leaves and shoots of the henna shrub and native to parts of Africa. Back then, the color and condition of nails was an indication of social status. Henna was also used as a healing plant and for cleansing and cooling the skin. 

China

In ancient china, common people were executed if they were caught wearing nail polish in public (that was only the privilege of the rich), and in Japan, noble women were forbidden to walk in public without full body cosmetic treatment. Around 3000 BC Chinese people began to stain their fingernails with gum Arabic, gelatin, beeswax and egg. Different nail colors signified certain social status. Colors such as gold, silver, black and red were used by the high and noble. Rice powder was used in eastern parts of Asia to lighten their skin but this trend has long gone. 

Japan

In ancient Japan, geisha wore lipstick made of crushed safflower to paint the eyebrow and edges of the eyes and lips. They also used rice powder but sometimes they would use bird droppings to compile a lighter color. How on earth could anyone put that on her face? Grose!

India

Make-up is an integral part of India culture. Henna, which was locally known as Mehndi is used for dyeing skin, hair, fingernails, leather, silk and wool. It was first introduced between the fourth and fifth centuries. It became very known for painting complex designs on hands and feet especially for Hindu and Muslim weddings. I have seen the art works done with the hands and feet painting and there are quite beautiful.

Rome

Kohl was not only used by Egyptian women, it was widely used by the romans to darken their eyelashes and eyelids. Chalk was used for whitening their complexion and rouge was worn on the cheek. Pale skin was the in thing in ancient Rome because they preferred to have their makeup look as natural as possible. 

Greece

In ancient Greece, women with paled skin were seen as wealthy and prestigious but not all of them had this natural skin tone. For those that didn’t, they went to great length to create this look by smearing lead not just around their eyes, but all over their face neck and arms. Red iron oxide was used as rouge and lip coloring, as well as crushed mulberries. For their eyes, they used ground charcoal or soot mixed with olive oil. Olive oil and honey were used for facial masks and lotions to give their skin a natural, healthy glow. 

The Dangers of Cosmetics

Of all the substances that were used for cosmetics in ancient times, the most dangerous was white lead and mercury. These did not only eventually ruin the skin but it also caused hair loss, stomach problems, paralysis, and could even cause death. Although these dangers became known, the majority of women continued to use these deadly substances. The incidents of failing health and death prompted members of the medical community and the press to warn people about the dangers of certain cosmetics. As the dangers of lead and mercury in cosmetics became more acute and deadly, different safety measures were put in place, such as the FDA’s 1977 requirement that U.S. cosmetic manufacturers list ingredients on the label.

Recent times

Over the last couple of decades, makeup or cosmetics (whichever one you would like to call it), has grown to become a multi-billion dollar industry with all forms of sophistication. Now, they are produced in compact cases that are so handy and easy to carry around. They are sold in almost every store and malls all around the world. You can walk into a store or mall and get lost in between choices of different shades of lipsticks and eye shadow. There is almost a makeup item in every single household, not just in the United States but all over the world. The industry has grown to the extent that many people have become successful entrepreneurs as makeup artist. Almost every woman who is planning to have her wedding would have a budget for makeup, not only for herself but her bridal train as well. Making up has become a daily routine or ritual for many women such that some can’t even step out of the house without putting on a lipstick or lip gloss. Although many people are now aware of the dangers of the deadly metals such as lead and mercury used as ingredients for makeup, they are not completely eliminated. 

In 2008, the state of Minnesota placed an official ban on the use of mercury in mascara, eye liners and skin-lightening creams. Carl Herbrandson, a toxicologist with the Minnesota state health department stated that, “Using eye makeup with mercury is unlikely to cause immediate health problems, but mercury accumulates in the body, so consumers should avoid exposure whenever possible. Mercury can retard brain development in children and fetuses, who are most vulnerable to the metal's toxic effects. But it can also cause neurological symptoms in adults. Mercury fumes can collect inside a jar of skin cream or a tube of mascara, and a person could inhale them when the container is opened. However, skin products with mercury are more dangerous than mercury-containing eye makeup because people apply larger quantities to their bodies. Overall, mercury is bad in all forms that get into the body.” 

One ingredient that is not usually listed on cosmetic products is Lead because the amounts are usually small. Nonetheless, the presence of lead in lipstick, which is ingested and absorbed through the skin, raises concerns. In 2007, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics conducted a study that detected lead in 61% of the 33 lipsticks tested. The FDA in response said it doesn't consider the lead levels found in lipsticks to be a safety issue. 

Urged on by both consumers and the cosmetics industry, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration conducted its own testing in 2010 and their results were even more astonishing. The agency detected lead in all 400 lipsticks tested, four times higher than the levels observed in the study done by Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. They came to the conclusion that lipstick, as a product intended for topical use with limited absorption, is ingested only in very small quantities, so they did not consider the lead levels found in the lipsticks to be a safety concern." A single lipstick application may not necessarily cause any harm but when it is applied multiple times a day, the result is that it is ingested and absorbed through the lips in quantities that could be very harmful. Women who do not apply their lipsticks several times a day are still applying in the span of a lifetime, which means that exposure to these heavy metals adds up and can potentially affect their health.      

The desire to look beautiful has cost many women their lives all through the centuries. There are also sad cases of women going through surgery just to achieve certain kinds of look but they lost their lives in the process. The word of God says “We are wonderfully and fearfully made and we are created in the image of God.” This is the truth; the word of God is the truth. I believe that our looks shouldn’t be defined by what we wear or the kind of makeup we use. I am not saying that women shouldn’t use makeup anymore; in fact, I do think that a little touch-up here and there is necessary but moderation is key. More importantly, avoidance of what is dangerous to our health should be one of the things that dictate what we use on our body because it is the temple of the Holy Spirit. 

References

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/22258423/ns/health-skin_and_beauty/t/mercury-mascara-minnesota-bans-it/#.VvA7QtIrJH0

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/22546056/ns/health/t/suffering-beauty-has-ancient-roots/#.VvA-btIrJH3

http://www.slideshare.net/PRESENTATIONSFORESL/history-of-cosmetics-and-makeup

http://ancientpeoples.tumblr.com/post/31334677383/makeup-trends-in-ancient-times-the-desire-to-look

http://beautifulwithbrains.com/2010/03/03/beauty-history-cosmetics-in-ancient-greece/

http://gbtimes.com/life/chinese-charm-brief-history-beauty-enhancement-china

http://ancientpeoples.tumblr.com/post/31334677383/makeup-trends-in-ancient-times-the-desire-to-look

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/04/opinion/rasanayagam-lipstick-lead/

http://www.makeup2enhance.com/history-of-makeup.htm

http://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/Ancient-history-cosmetics

http://www.medusasmakeup.com/history-of-makeup.htm

Food Court

Is the food we eat today the same as back in the day and should we be worried if it has changed?

Food as we know it today has undergone so many changes since the beginning of mankind. What people eat in all places and times depends upon who they are (religion/ethnicity), where they lived (city, urban, rural, countryside), and how much money they had (the wealthy folks generally had more choices than the poor). In primitive days, food evolved and matured naturally with all their nutrients and flavors still intact but today most of the foods we eat are chemically enhanced with artificial flavors. 

Food in the early days were free of chemical preservatives and colors, they were grown in the outdoor and exposed to the sun which made them richer and healthier. It is also interesting to note that a lot of the food back then was eaten raw for thousands of years. The food enzymes and nutrients were unharmed but at some point, cooking was discovered and food historians generally believe that the first cooking method was roasting over an open fire. One of the positive effects of the use of heat back in the days was that heat helps to release protein and carbohydrate as well as break down fibre. Cooking increases the nutritive value of many foods and makes edible some that would otherwise be inedible. Improved health must certainly have been one result of the discovery of cooking. 

The use of fire in food preparation made many parts of plants that were inedible easily digestible and this resulted in a great increase of plant food supply. All of the major domesticated plant foods, such as wheat, barley, rice, millet, rye, and potatoes, require cooking before they are suitable for human consumption. In fact, in a raw state, many plants contain toxic or indigestible substances or anti-nutrients. But after cooking, many of these undesirable substances are deactivated, neutralized, reduced, or released; and starch and other nutrients in the plants are rendered absorbable by the digestive tract. 

The earliest method of getting food was through hunting wild animals and gathering food from wild plants and the healthiness of the diet was very different compared to what we have in today’s world. Recent research suggests our ancestors may have lived well into their 70's because they were eating healthy diets high in fruits, vegetables, lean protein and healthy fats. In any case, they didn’t even have any alternative because this was all that was available. More so, they hardly suffered from the diet-related chronic illnesses that are common today. African hunters and gatherers ate mainly wild vegetables (roots and leaves), with some meat and fish and seafood and eggs. However, as the climate changed and the Sahara Desert gradually took over the grasslands, it got harder to get food and so some African people began to farm some of their food. 

Although, the hunter-gathering way of getting food was easy, it could not be sustained for a long time. As the climate began to change, a shortage of wild food sources began to threaten this well know and widely accepted method of getting food. Increase in population also brought about the demand for more food that could not be harvested in the wild. 

With all these changes and development, a new way of acquiring food needed to be created or the very existence of the human race would face the devastating problem of starvation. There had to be an innovation in food harvesting and processing. The gradual transition from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle toward cultivating crops and animals for food led to the shift to agriculture. Agriculture may have required more time and energy than hunting and gathering, it undoubtedly provided a more stable and abundant food supply.

Due to the arrival of technology and other economical and geographical factors, the process of growing and preserving food has been greatly compromised in our present day. In the early days of agriculture, the process of farming was not manipulated by homogenization or pasteurization. Animals were not bred to grow faster and cheaper and plants were harvested fresh so their full nutrient and value was maintained. Foods were stored by way of drying or fermentation that increased good gut bacteria. 

Back then you didn’t have to worry whether food was organic or inorganic because they didn’t use synthetics to produce the finished food products and they were not shipped for long distances and stored repeatedly. Today, a lot of what we consume today as food has been refined and processed. We now have High fructose corn syrup in the majority of processed foods and sodas. We consume food with High glycemic effect (refined starch raises blood sugar fast) and at least 20 times as much Omega 6 as Omega 3. (Omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids are essential to the body to maintain certain functions and to aid in keeping us healthy. Most sources of omega-6 fatty acids can be found in the food we eat in our daily diets, while omega-3 fatty acids may be taken as a supplement. Certain research says that too much omega-6 may lead to or increase the problems of certain medical conditions, along with depression. Omega-3 plays an important role in reducing different types of inflammation, while Omega-6 can often cause the inflammation to become even worse). 

Before the introduction of the modern technologies that is used in the cultivation and preservation of foods, any sweet food like root vegetable) provided nourishment but today, artificial sweeteners are added to some of the things we eat everyday which upsets our metabolism and seem to alter gut bacteria. Naturally-occurring vitamins, absorbable minerals were the characteristics of the kinds of food that was eaten in the days of our ancestors. The state of what we consume today has become so harmful to our health that even the word “Enriched” that is greatly advertised as part of a food component can mean that a few synthetic vitamins and cheap minerals have been added into it. 

Also, the only beverages that was available then were water and herb tea but today, besides milk: coffee, sweetened coffee drinks, sodas, sweet juices, alcohol and energy drinks has become part of the food consumption of most people. Even water that is perceived as the safest of all and was once free of manmade chemicals has not been left out of this compromise and downfall. Water supplies now carry chlorine, pesticides, industrial chemicals and even medications; an example is the Flint water. 

The health problem that has arisen due to all these changes, additions and subtractions to the food we consume is innumerous and devastating. The human body is so unique that whenever we consumer something that is not right for us, our immune system works to remove this foreign and dangerous substance from our body. The more we consume these substances and the less we take in those things that should actually benefit and nourish our body, the greater danger and health problems we spell. There is a limit to how much dangerous elements our bodies can take and fight against. When we develop a lifestyle and culture of eating wrong, the fighting agents in our body will begin to weaken which will inevitable create all kinds of sickness and diseases. 

It is evident that the standard of the food we eat today has fallen very short of the standard of the primitive days. Today, what we have is a very dark shadow compared to what was obtainable back in those days. This downfall has only worsened our state of health and the more we follow this path, the greater problems we will face ahead, problems that may be incurable. The only way I perceive this can be avoided is by taking a moment to learn what worked back in the beginning and adapt it to our present day. Some of those things may be impracticable today but there might be one or two that could be useful and lifesaving. 

References

http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/nutrition/fats/omega-6-vs-omega-3-fatty-acid-whats-the-difference.html

http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/teaching-the-food-system/curriculum/_pdf/History_of_Food-Background.pdf

http://quatr.us/africa/food/

http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodfaq3.html

http://hbnshow.com/articles/basics-health/history-of-food/

The Ongoing Battle With Drug Abuse

The United States has a long history of drug abuse. Although the drugs that are most commonly abused in any generation change with the years, it is not a new problem. Generations upon generations have been affected by this problem. While lawmakers have proposed and passed legislation to reduce drug abuse, it is a fact that illicit use of substances is still a problem.

Until the first decade of the twentieth century, tobacco use was usually confined to smoking in pipes and cigars, chewing, and inhaling snuff. The cigarettes that we see today began to appear in the late nineteenth century, gaining wide popularity some twenty years later.

The use of drug and the abuse of it started from the very beginning of the united states but it wasn’t as destructive and wide spread as we know of it today. Back then, doctors would use drugs such as opium, alcohol and cocaine for medical purposes to dull the effect of some health problems. The addictive qualities of the drugs were not fully understood before the Civil War so many soldiers were given opium to dull pain during surgery and became addicted to the drug. During the 1800s, developments in medicine led to the creation of morphine, codeine and cocaine but the drugs were unregulated and readily available. When it was discovered that the drugs were a serious problem, regulations were developed and laws were made to help contain the problem and make it harder to obtain.

Despite all the laws and regulations that were passed to prohibit and restrict the procession and use of illicit drugs, like a cancer that just won’t go away, many drugs are still in circulation and younger Americans now have increasingly easier access to "black market" marihuana, cocaine, prescription drugs, and animal tranquilizers. Alcohol remained available during its Prohibition because of the demand for it. People still got drunk, still became alcoholics, and still suffered delirium tremens. Drunken drivers remained a frequent menace on the highways. During the years of alcohol prohibition, marihuana use gained popularity and it has become legalized in some states today. 

The demand for these drugs did not diminish even though the government tried to eradicate these dangerous substances from the society. People kept asking for it and today, the younger generations have felt the impact most. Families have been torn apart, the rate of suicide has skyrocketed, many crimes and abuses have been traced back to the influence and use of these drugs, diseases such as cancer, aids and many more have eaten into the fabric of the American society due to these drugs. 

What was once thought to be a medical treatment back in the beginning has now become so destructive and hard to curtail. However, many rehabilitation centers have been created to provide treatment for many users and addict of these drugs and some level of success have been recorded. Nevertheless, the fight against drug abuse and addiction is still an ongoing battle. The question still remains, what is the lasting solution to these destruction and who can find it?

References
http://aforeverrecovery.com/blog/drug-abuse/the-history-of-drug-abuse-in-the-united-states/
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/history/casey1.htm