Substance Abuse and Gun Violence

Da’Vonna Ware
Junior
Osborn University High School

Teens may not know how substance abuse can affect your body and your life.
Although teens these days think drugs are okay to use or sell its not and that’s why us as
a community need to stop substance abuse and gun violence on our streets. More than
nine teens are killed a week do to gun violence because they got involved in the business
of drugs. Every time I turn on my television to get a glance at the news I get more than a
glance the news casters are always saying somebody got shot and killed or their in critical
condition. And it makes me think a lot we can stop all of this from happening on the
streets but nobody wants to get involved.
When I walk into a liquor store I see so many young teens in their looking at the
liquor section waiting on somebody to come back their so they can get them to buy their
liquor. That upsets me because adults rather put us teens in danger than to speak up and
be a leader in tell these teens don’t do substance abuse. During school or even the
summer I see teens just walking around in the community or standing on the corners with
their hands in their pockets. Then kids or maybe even adults go buy drugs from them and
they don’t know what the teens put in these drugs. When people buy drugs I sometimes
wonder are they smart enough to notice these drug dealers could of put something in their
to make them have one puff of it and then their dead.
About two and a half weeks ago we got a call from my aunty saying that my
cousin got shot in one of her kidneys. We went up to the hospital and I was able to talk to
my cousin about what happen. She told me she was hanging around the wrong crowd
when she should have been at home with her son. Then she told me that they were
smoking in drinking over at a friend house then decided to go walking around the block
to the store. They finally got to the store and got what they wanted and starting walking
back when one of her friends decided to sell Marijuana but didn’t know that was
somebody else block ( territory) who did the same thing. After that a car drove by slow
pointed a gun at my cousin and her friends in started shooting at my cousin and her
friends.
Everybody got a way but my cousin she wasn’t watching what was going on
around her because of substance abuse. And because of that she was in the hospital lying
in the bed with one kidney left. Teens need to be more careful about there surrounding
and know what how fast substance abuse can change into gun violence. My cousin story
was so life inspiring to me because her story opens my eyes up more widely than they
had ever been. And I know her story can help other teens notice what’s more important in
their life. “So teens don’t let substance abuse in gun violence affect your life in always
stay passionate about your life”.