Deciding About Drugs

It is worth making a mental checklist of all the drugs you use.

Look at the list in What drugs do you use? and think about these different aspects of the drugs you may use:

• the effect they have on you
• their actual or possible physical harm to you
• the context or social setting in which you use them
• why you use them
• the consequences of your use - personally, socially, legally and in your work

Having thought about how, when, where and why you use them, you may decide that your use of drugs is okay - moderate, under control and harmless.

The fact is that some drugs are illegal, and that can affect you. If you are caught using them you could be charged and convicted. This could involve serving a prison sentence or paying a fine, but your future life may be affected even more seriously, because you will have a CRIMINAL RECORD for the rest of your life.