Wareham High School hosted Drug Story Theater Inc.’s “The Price You Pay” on Monday night and the message was for the entire community: trust is the ultimate price you pay when using drugs or alcohol.

Founded by Dr. Joseph Shrand and his wife Carol Shrand, the program featured accounts of true stories told by recovering teenage addicts.

Through storytelling and personal accounts of addiction, the performance aims to warn young people about the dangers and effects of drugs and alcohol.

In a question and answer session after the play, an audience member asked the teenagers, “Is there anything that could’ve stopped you?”

Had they known what really happens in the brain when it’s on drugs or alcohol, it would’ve made them think twice about it, said the teens.

Performances of the program in Plymouth County were supported by District Attorney Timothy Cruz, who was present at the show. Cruz said he sees an increasing need for drug and alcohol prevention in the county as drug-related deaths are on the rise. In 2013, there were 25 overdoses in the county, he said. In 2014, that number jumped to 75. Last year, there were 142.

Led by a professional improviser and behavioral specialist, teenagers in the show created a performance piece that explored their relationship to drugs. Parents also have their own group therapy program. Some joined the improvisation with their children.

Before the storytellers had arrived, Shrand gave a short presentation about the “Theory of Mind.” He defined this as “how I think you see me,” and Shrand called it the basis of empathy. It is what gives us our sense of value and self worth, he said, adding that “humans just want to feel valued by others.”

“Drugs and alcohol interfere with this,” said Shrand. “Some folks have such an impaired Theory of Mind from drugs and alcohol, that they don’t even know they have a problem.”

While teenagers acted out true stories of their lives and how they became addicted to drugs, they paused for three informational sessions to explain to the audience what was going on in their brains.

They explained the difference between the limbic system and the frontal lobe. The former is prevalent in every human being’s adolescence and it controls feelings, impulses, pleasures and addictions. The frontal lobe is fully developed after the age of 21, and it controls thinking, solving problems, taking actions and thinking about consequences. This explains why one in 25 people become addicted to alcohol or drugs if they begin using them after the age of 21, but one in four become addicted before the age of 18.

“All drugs and alcohol force the brain to make dopamine,” said one of the players.

Dopamine, a chemical produced in the brain, enables us to feel pleasure. But while this substance is being produced, oxytocin is cut off. Oxytocin, often called the “cuddle chemical” or the “hug hormone,” is the brain chemical associated with feelings of trust.

At the end of the night, the teenagers posed the following question to the audience: “Which pleasure do you choose? Dopamine or oxytocin?”