Basically every teen is faced with peer pressure at one point or another. While some are more resilient some struggle with the need to fit in and will do things at any cost just to be liked. A common pressure teens face is underage substance abuse. While it may seem fun at the moment underage drinking can have some severe consequences not only considering the law but as well as damaging your health. Some of the major consequences of partaking in drinking underage do include, Death, trouble with the law, and long term struggles in life. Those are some pretty serious consequences. 

While drinking, one’s ability to make rational decisions like not getting in a car with another drunk person, is lowered considerably. According to Law offices of Pius Joseph “There were 1,069 fatalities from drunk driving crashes in California in one recent year, more than 10 percent of the nationwide total.” That is way too many lives lost from dumb decisions that are easily preventable. Also considering the fact that as a teenager your brain is not fully developed, making life or death decisions with an underdeveloped intoxicated brain is scary. 

Another severe consequence of under age drinking is getting in trouble with the law. Being caught attempting to only purchase alcohol under age in California results in a $250 fine, being required to do 24-32 hours of community service, and suspended driving privileges for a year. On top of all these jail time is also considered in some cases. 

With all these terrible in the moment effects there are many long term effects as well. Minors who drink regularly tend to not do well in school making it more difficult for them to do better off after highschool. Also alcohol can become a severe addiction and can prevent you from living a happy life due to its mental and physical effects. Alcohol addiction is linked to causing mental health disorders like depression and physical disorders such as liver damage. 

So considering just these stated problems with drinking there are millions of other negative effects that come along with it as well, please make good decisions regarding your life. Also set a good example for other people your age to avoid substance abuse. It takes one bad decision to end a life.