• 40% of all traffic related deaths are related to alcohol. In the US someone dies every 20 seconds from an alcohol related traffic accident.
• There are 708,000 alcohol related traffic accident injuries each year.
• 1,400 college freshman's die every year due to alcohol consumption. Nation wide that number for the total population jumps to about 7,600.
• Every year 1.4 million drivers are arrested for DWI (about 56,869 are in New York State alone).
• A first offense DWI charge (on Average) costs a person in New York State between $2,000 and $8,000, has a mandatory license revocation of 6 months to 2 years and possibility of 3 years probation or up to a year in jail. Second offenses (within 10 years) are considered a felony and are punishable with much harsher fines, revocations and possible state (not county) imprisonment. Details available at the NYS DMV website.
• Most alcohol related driving fatalities are that of children under the age of 14, who were passengers in vehicles involved.
• 35% of all prisoners incarcerated in New York state are there for alcohol related offenses.
• 20 to 50% of all teen suicides are alcohol related
• 5,280 children under the age of 16 are admitted to the hospital each year for alcohol related accidents involving underage drinking.
• 2 million people in the US are diagnosed with alcoholic liver disease each year. It is the 4th leading cause of death in adults from age 20 to 70 years. 27,035 people die yearly from alcohol related liver disease (Alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis) that is roughly 74 people per day. 1 in every 136 people in the United States will develop alcoholic liver related diseases each year.
• Underage drinking leaves a person at a higher risk of making mistakes that can turn into bad lifestyle choices. Teen drinkers are 80% more likely to get in trouble with the law as minors and are 45% more likely to carry that behavior into adulthood.
• Teens who drink are 60% more likely to have an unwanted pregnancy before age 20.
• Young drinkers are also 45% more likely to be susceptible to rape, abduction and many other abuse.
• 30% of all drowning deaths, 55% of all fire fatalities, 41% of falling deaths, 75% of all homicides, 40% of all rapes, 50% of all sexual abuse cases, and 70% of all battered women cases are all attributed to alcohol use.
• Alcohol also causes many major health issues including: cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis, heartburn, pancreatic inflammation, memory loss, brain damage, dementia, poor coordination, learning disabilities, nerve damage, numbness in legs, difficulty walking, heart failure, shortness of breath, high blood pressure, heart palpitations, damage to the testicles leading to impotence or damage to unborn children, gout (painful joint swelling), blood clots in the brain, osteoporosis, malnutrition, obesity, sleeping disorders, anxiety, depression, confusion, black outs and much more.
• Alcohol also causes many social problems such as loss of friends, marriage difficulties, child neglect, financial problems, excessive gambling, lateness at work or failure to gain promotion, occupational termination, drinking and driving offenses, property crimes, possible assaults and the overall neglect for logical thinking.

Take a long hard look at these statistics. Alcohol is not harmless just because it is legal, in fact in some respects it causes more harm due to its legality. You don’t want to end up one of these statistics. Choices you make now will follow you for life, make the right choice and enjoy life so

• Marijuana addiction is real! Smoking (or ingesting) marijuana on a regular basis can cause a physical and mental addiction. Since Marijuana effects your brain by increasing blood pressure, blood sugar and by stimulating the pleasure centers your brain, you can literally crave marijuana if use is stopped suddenly.
• 165,000 people a year become patients in drug treatment facilities for marijuana addiction.
• Marijuana affects the nerve cells in the part of the brain where memories are formed and with persistent use can contribute to short term memory loss.
• With extended use we see evidence of “fogginess”. It’s as if the brain clouds and does not function properly anymore, creating slower learning, poor coordination and short attention spans. Use of the drug in young adults is especially destructive due to the fact that the brain is being negatively affected before it is fully developed. These affects are permanent.
• Blood flow to the brain is affected immensely. Marijuana use (even after the substance had completely left your body - 30 days +) constricts blood vessels but also increases blood flow quite close to that of hypertension and diabetes. The effects on increased blood flow to the brain rate just below the levels of those who are experiencing dementia. This massive rage in blood pressure passing through constricted vessels cause permanent abnormalities in the small blood vessels.
• “High” drivers have been known to drive abnormally slow, possess impaired motor skills, have un realistic sense of depth and distance and are prone to frequent distractions. Focusing on driving becomes a challenge and accidents become more prevalent. These affects can become permanent with years of usage.
• Smoking “pot” also worsens Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
• Marijuana while giving you a feeling of peace also leaves you with no energy. Using produces a vegetative type of state where the user has no wants, goals or ambitions. This can cause many other things of spiral out of control, like, alienation from non using friends or family, lack of focus on education, lack of wants for life achievement, depression and all out laziness.
• Marijuana also causes the brain to interpret time differently. This makes you feel as if there is plenty of time to do what you are putting off. Persistent procrastination can lead to missed opportunities.
• Existing heart conditions are greatly affected and can worsen with the added strain on the heart.
• Heavy usage of marijuana can cause spontaneous black outs where the subject is standing one minute and on the ground passed out the next. Most of the time consciousness is regained in a short period of time.
• Marijuana is illegal in all of the united states. Some are harsher than others with punishments for possession and sale of the substance. Charges for marijuana possession can bring you up to 20 years in prison in some states and can cost you millions of dollars in fines.
• Job retention is often affected as well as life performance in general.
• Many marijuana users also raise their risk of being involved in violent attacks by associating with drug dealers and users around you.

Marijuana is not a harmless drug. Preserve your ability to think clearly, to learn and to achieve greatness in life. Feel alive….. just “pass on the grass”.