Teenagers today are faced with many obstacles and decisions as they make their
            
             way into adulthood. It is a heavy burden to bear, to know that every decision you make,
            
             could effect the rest of your life. For teenagers one bad choice could have a negative
            
             effect years down the road. One major issue that teenagers deal with on a daily basis,
            
             are drugs. Every teen at one time or another is pressured to use drugs. It's not peer
            
             pressure alone that influence teens to use drugs. Most teenagers would never try them if
            
             it were not for gateway drugs. Gateway drugs are drugs that might seem harmless, but
            
             could become addictive and dangerous. Gateway drugs almost always lead to even more
            
             serious, addictive, and harmful drugs. Cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana are three of the
            
             most common gateway drugs.
            
             Cigarettes are the most common of the gateway drugs. Cigarettes are not always
            
             considered a drug, because they do not get you high or alter your state of mind. Cigarettes
            
             are still highly addictive and cause life threatening illnesses. Lung cancer and
            
             emphysema are common desieses that life time smokers could possibly face. Over 80%
            
             of all adult smokers started smoking before they turned eighteen. Some
            
             young people are introduced with cigarettes as early as eight years old. While peer
            
             pressure plays a part in children taking a puff of that first cigarette, curiosity can also
            
             influence that decision. Just as curiosity and rebellion influence that first puff, it could
            
             sway your curiosity to drink that first beer.
            
             As with cigarettes, alcohol is not often referred to as a drug. The dangerous
            
             potential of alcohol being a gateway drug is obvious, but not often seen until it is too late.
            
             Alcohol can be a harmful drug for adults, but even more harmful for teenagers. Teenage
            
             drinking is a serious problem in high schools across America. The number of underage
            
             ...