There are many differences between Italy and
Minnesota: food, people, weather, schools and jobs. But
there’s one thing in common: drugs.
This is just my second month here, but I have
understood that it’s more difficult to find drugs. In Italy
it is almost everywhere – most drug use is associated with
immigrants and criminal associations. Schools are full of
drugs and we have detention dogs which go to schools to
find them. The students don’t know when the inspections
are. Now everyone knows how to trick the police, so agents
are trying to find a new method, and the drug users are tight
knit, so they give a warning to one another when the police
are searching.
I think the world of the drugs is really difficult
and hard to understand. In my opinion, alcohol is more
dangerous than marijuana. People think that first one is not
a drug, but for me it is. To tell the truth, when I think about
drugs, my first thought is alcohol. A drug is something that
changes your behavior, and changes your feelings – and it is
something that changes you.
Typically, teenagers who try or use drugs, do this
just because it is cool “If you don’t use drugs you are not
accepted, you don’t know how to have fun.”
Drugs are everywhere, and if you really want,
you can find everything, but a little part of the population
find peace and happiness in drugs, because depression and
sadness kills them inside.
We had cases of young people who had drugs at
school. The most common is marijuana. When the police
finds someone with more than 5 grams of marijuana, he/she
will have consequences. Just with one gram, they will bring
him/her to the Prefecture and they will report it.
The same happens at the airport; there are dogs and
they monitor people and they sniff out substances in people’s
luggage and even on their bodies. I went many times to the
airport and they stopped me every time because young
people, especially girls, are used for drug tourism. This helps
hide the drug dealers.
In the United States, in 2010, 38,329 people
died from drug abuse. In 2011, there were 27,658 drug
responsible deaths. The total population of the USA is about
313.9 million. During the last couple years, the death toll
has increased from 16,928 people in 1998 to 27,658 people
in 2011. Money spent on the war on drugs? More than
$51,000,000,000.
Around here, a consequence of possession of drugs
is a bit more severe. If you’re caught the second time you’re
expelled from the high school, yet we have a increase of
sellers in the community, which is the fuel for the growing
drug circle everyday.
Overall, drugs are everywhere. Yet our idea is to
“live in the now”, so why should we care? Well here are two
countries – two “live in the now” cultures. We are a part of
the same big generation with huge ideas. We don’t want our
next new big idea to be thought of by a bunch of hookahsmoking
caterpillars.