Tune in to Hot 107.5 FM and listen carefully. Does it count how many times a song played on this radio station references drugs? Which race is generally known for listening to drug-infested hip hop music? African Americans. The media is just the beginning of our war on drugs in my community. How can the negative effects of drugs be expressed when the media portrays a different image? I believe my African American peers are ignorant when it comes to the effects of substance abuse. In my clique I'm the only one who chooses not to smoke marijuana, take pills or drink low-fat drinks. 1 in 3 of my friends who smoke marijuana, take a percocet, molly or xanax or use codeine have untreated mental illnesses such as anxiety, depression, PTSD or bipolar disorder. How do drugs affect the African American population financially, physically and mentally? Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay From my experience with the drug, I noticed a change in my behavior after smoking medical marijuana at least three to four times a week. Many of my peers smoke three times a day; in the morning, afternoon and before going to bed. There is a large percentage of my peers who started smoking marijuana in middle school. In eighth grade, my middle school experienced a drug raid due to marijuana being sold, smoked, and consumed on school property. Do medications decrease or increase stress, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental illnesses? I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and moderate depression in my senior year of high school, at seventeen. I've noticed some changes in my mental health after smoking marijuana more than once a month, such as slower response times, skyrocketing anxiety levels, and I'm not as talkative as I was when I was in high school. One of the biggest changes I've noticed is that I can't handle stress well without wanting to self-medicate with medical marijuana. The slightest bit of stress pushes me to light the next cone. Having a family history of addiction and mental health is an important component of your tolerance to drugs and alcohol. Being related to others who have developed an addiction and having experienced a mental health disorder yourself makes it very likely that you may develop an addictive personality. Factors that contribute to having an addictive personality can be a combination of family history, genetics, and environment (community, friends, etc.). My tolerance to alcohol and marijuana is extremely high due to my family history of addiction and mental illness. Looking at the demographics of an African American community like Detroit, Michigan, you will see a liquor store on every corner and at least one dispensary on every street. If you were to travel northwest to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, you won't find half the liquor stores or dispensaries you would see in Detroit. Why are most dispensaries located in urban cities? African Americans have more access to medications because dispensaries are your neighbors. Getting my medical marijuana card was an easier process than registering to vote. Most of my male peers were in possession of illegal drugs and selling them to multiple people. My community doesn't recognize the signs of substance abuse because it's considered the norm to drink lean every weekend, take a Percocet, and smoke marijuana. If you don't ride the waveof alcohol and marijuana then you are considered lame. Even if you were taught to say no to drugs, this is not what kids learn from their peers or the media in today's society. If I claimed to be addicted to marijuana, my community would find it hysterical. “It's all in your head, you can't be addicted to marijuana. “This false statement has been around for generations before I was born. Too much of anything can be unhealthy. Using marijuana is linked to addiction where someone experiences withdrawal symptoms when not using it. This turns into addiction when it interferes with your daily activities such as work, school, eating and sleeping. I am deeply involved in finding answers to my questions because I am really worried about my friends and family who continue to use drugs on a daily basis for two months now marijuana. Since I had a couple of bad experiences smoking marijuana, I have been trying to learn more about its connection to mental illness, gum disease, bipolar disorder, etc. Unfortunately, there isn't much research on the effects of marijuana on your body. mind and your body. This actually scares me because as Americans begin to vote on legalizing recreational marijuana in the upcoming election on November 6, 2018, we don't understand what it's really doing to our minds and bodies. States such as California, Colorado, Alaska, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont, including the city of Washington DC, have legalized recreational marijuana. Nine states have legalized a substance that has not been tested on human subjects for benefits or disadvantages. However, I found numerous articles on broader research that pertains to substance abuse as a whole. I initially wanted to focus on the effects of marijuana in the African American community, but there were few resources available for one drug in particular. To get to the heart of the search you had to search for substance abuse as a topic instead of marijuana. Since there are not many academic articles or books on the effects of marijuana around in the Wayne State University library, I have chosen to use the Internet as my only source of information. There were pros and cons to just using the internet because even though I could find resources on substance abuse/marijuana use, the information provided could be flawed and less than true. The first secondary source came into my I-Search essay when I searched for “What are the effects of substance abuse in the African American community?” in my Google search engine. This article focuses on the causes of substance abuse, including multiple stressors that are prominent in African Americans. Emily Guarnotta identifies the variety of medications widely used in the community. He forgets to mention the use of pills like Percocet, Molly, Xanax or codeine known as Lean. Guarnotta shows the symptoms of addiction and how African Americans are affected by short- and long-term drug abuse. The most helpful part of the article covers how to seek and pay for treatment, the obstacles African Americans face when seeking treatment, and the aftercare that is a vital component of recovery. This source has been the holy grail for my research questions. It has helped me identify those who abuse substances, which is huge for my research paper and personal knowledge. The second sub-article I chose explains the short and long term effects of marijuana. This article explains my initial research question about how marijuana affects African Americans physically, mentally, and emotionally. It is stated that 9% of adults and 17% of young adults.