Sarah Morris

Writer

Those who walk the path of drug use have a very thin line to keep track of. It is incredibly easy for people to slip into patterns of negativity associated with drug abuse, and I think a lot of young people that have never seen these effects firsthand do not fully understand the consequences of their actions. While growing up awkwardly in the suburbs of Atlanta, my mom caught me sneaking out of the house and said, “There’s only so much you can do until you succumb to peer pressure.” I hold this to be very true. I think it is important that kids grow up, break some rules, learn from their mistakes and get on with their lives. However, so many people do not understand that getting on with your life after suffering from drug abuse is not a choice you get to make to end it; a drug addiction is more than physical, it is mental. And it is extremely difficult for abusers to move on mentally after quitting, especially if their peers are users as well.

I am not talking about drinking with your friends, or even smoking marijuana at a young age. For the majority of people, such actions do not manifest into larger issues. But for some, they can be gateways into hard drug use. I know that the term “gateway drug” conjures images of the eighth grade lecture delivered by your P.E. teacher, but once you’ve seen people delve into drug use, you can actually understand how easy it is to slip from one substance to another. Drugs are becoming easier and cheaper to get and have a very social connotation to them.

As fun as experimentation can be, children need to stay as far away as they can from hard drugs like cocaine, methamphetamines, heroine, Percocet, Vicodin and nitrous. These kinds of drugs alter the way you behave and function in your daily life. The truth that needs to be realized is that you won’t have better or cooler friends because you do hard drugs and you won’t even have real friends if you do; you will just have a bunch of junkies to keep you company while you get high on the weekends.

It is true that not everybody has an addictive personality. Not everyone will take cocaine once and be hooked immediately, but I have seen it happen to people I love. You will never know if you are the type of person who will get addicted until you actually try it. Drug abuse is all so glamorous now. It always has been, but we cannot allow ourselves to romanticize such a dark habit. I had best friends in high school with severe cocaine addictions. They stole from their parents and friends, they lied to everyone around them, and the worst part was, they could not stop. It was not their choice anymore as the drugs were making decisions for them. The drugs were ruining their lives.

It seems like something so silly and easy to do just one time, but the truth is, addiction can fall onto anyone. I’ve seen drugs hurt loved ones and ruin relationships. People have to understand that drug abuse is not a romantic place to explore. It will not make you a deeper or more interesting person. It might tear you away from the people you love. I have seen it first-hand, and I know how horrible it can be. Just testing the waters might lead you into a place you never thought you would enter, and I do not think even risking that is worth it for a minute.