The teen years are when you are:

figuring out who you are

sometimes faced with a lot of pressure to try new things (yes—including drugs unfortunately)

feeling slightly stressed out with all that you are supposed to be doing

looking for a way to release the stress (or not)

wanting to fit in with a certain group (or not)

experiencing a ton of other stuff we can’t begin to imagine (but we try)

And on top of ALL that (because that just wasn’t enough), your brain is totally not yet formed. So, when peer pressure comes knocking at your door, the deadbolt of brain power that would normally reason, “No way, that stuff is waaaayyy bad for me!” is not yet in place.

Moreover, all that you do—your choices each day—from what food you eat to the exercise you do, to the book you read, the show you watch, the people you call or text – all impact the development of your brain right now. And if you do drugs – ouch. Your brain does not respond and develop as well as it could.

So, it’s a double whammy—your brain puts you at risk for doing drugs because it’s not fully formed and then if you do them, your brain growth is altered for the worse!! This is such an important concept, we’re going to go over it again, in detail (so don’t doze off right now thinking about something to eat).

Your brain is forming like nuts right now (nuts are good for your brain). You are making rapid fire connections (between neurons). These connections are based on the choices you make that will determine who you are on a cellular level.

That was deep, like deep fried, deep. (Deep fried food is bad for you, by the way.)

To summarize (because you started to think about Aunt Matilda’s deep fried chocolate nut bars):

Your brain is on rapid fire formation (it’s not fully formed yet!).

Your brain is forming based on the choices you make.

The choices you make are up to you.

More brain cells will grow towards a thought pattern or behavior (towards drugs or away from them; a.k.a brain damage/addiction OR a healthy life). It’s hard to imagine that your actions today will have major consequences tomorrow. But they will.

So to help you imagine it, let’s see what happens when drugs, specifically pot, enter the picture. Read on to learn Eduardo’s story…