1. Drugs and People You Know

[Dee Bee]

My husband and I are rarities -- graduated hs in the late 60s, undergrad in the early 70s, grad school in the mid to late 70's -- but never did drugs, not even weed.

However, I think that doesn't make us any "better" than anyone else; it was our personal choice.

Interestingly, our daughter, who graduated hs in '98 and grad school in '04, never touched drugs either. Since she has always been a very non-judgmental person, she had an extremely wide circle of hs friends, some of whom we knew were recreational drug users, but always told them that if drugs were the entertainment for the evening to give her a heads up so she could hang out elsewhere, which she did. As she became older, she told us that our past behavior had a very strong influence on her determination to be in control of her choices.

[j]

Nothing to brag about but I've known hundreds. Majority of them were good people, harming nobody, and purely recreational in practice.

However....the day comes, sooner or later, when you realize, you plan your entire day around said drug.

And...sooner or later, somebody in your circle of drug using over indulgence, will suffer dearly from their actions.

Enough said.

[vbhoutex]

Nothing to brag about but I've known hundreds. Majority of them were good people, harming nobody, and purely recreational in practice.

However....the day comes, sooner or later, when you realize, you plan your entire day around said drug.

And...sooner or later, somebody in your circle of drug using over indulgence, will suffer dearly from their actions.

Enough said.

Couldn't have said it better myself!!!!!

[Miss Mary]

When I was in High School - 1970 thru 74 - I thought a certain smell at dances was incense.

Seriously.

What can I say, I was naive, sheltered, gullible back then! Meanwhile, my friends would HOWL when I'd say, oh I like that smell. Never did ask for it in the incense section - thank goodness!

Fast forward to now, I've led less of a sheltered life. Not into it, but I've been exposed to it, shall we say. As for stronger drugs, well, that is something I've had virtually no experience with, personally or known anyone with an addiction. Now I did take Percoset's, around the clock, for 10 days, after my colon resection back in 99. Then I ran out and I had a very rough period that lasted about 24 hours. Shakes, extreme nausea, terrible, pounding headache, dizziness, dry heaves, etc. I had a vague idea of what addicts go thru in detox. Oh yeah, just a glimpse. I was a major mess w/o Percoset's. My doc switched me to a less addictive pain med. Ever since, I'd rather not even have one single Percoset popped in my mouth, if I ever need more surgery...


Mary

[sunny]

Unfortunately, someone very close to me got messed up on the heavy stuff a long time ago. He was so messed up on heroin that when he pulled his first armed robbery, he didn't realize that he knew the clerk at the Time Saver he was robbing. His life has been totally screwed up because of drugs. Two prison terms, broken marriage, his kids hurt because dad was not there. All he cared about was that next fix. His brain in fried now, he doesn't live in the real world. It is heart breaking.

[Andrew92]

I'm only 21 and I already know some of my classmates smoke a lot of marijuana. Many of them think there is also nothing better to do on weekend nights except play beer pong, smoke a little weed, and all-around mess themselves up. Just plain stupid.

I have had a grand total of three drinks since I turned 21, and I can't stand beer. I also can't stand the smell of cigarettes or marijuana, so it's safe to say that I've never experimented with the drugs and likely never will. Nope, working out and running nearly every day are my antidrugs, something few of my former high school friends do now.

-Andrew92

[cajungal]

I know so many people that did drugs that it would sadly fill up this whole page. My co-worker; Steve smoked pot all the time. (How he ever passed the mandatory drug test, I will never know.) He died in a car accident in November 1999. He died on his way to work. His car ran off the road and hit a tree and killed him instantly. We all went out the night before to a club. So, he got very little sleep and the alcohol might of still been in his system. I seen him 15 minutes before the accident happened and was one of the last ones to see him alive. I took it very hard. And he left behind a wife and a very young daughter who was only 3 at the time.

Several of my friends experintmented and they all now have college degrees. They did that stuff in college, but barely even drink now. One is a nurse and the other is an accountant.

My cousin used to smoke weed all the time. And she lives in a very upscale neighborhood where you think people would not even do that. Almost all the kids in that neighborhood were getting stoned almost every weekend. Now she is a nurse. My uncle used to drugs growing up; too. He has long quit but still has problems with his drinking. He already got 2 DWIs.

And the last guy I went on a date with not long ago, admitted that he did everything except shooting up. It was a total turn off for me and I am glad that it never went beyond that one and only date. I am proud that I never touch anything but alcohol. I don't need drugs in my life. And I don't drink much anymore. Maybe twice a month, only if I go out to the club or to a wedding or something.

[MSRobi911]

One of my best friends growing up went to summer school and graduated a year early and got out on her own, her parents had money so they bought her a new car every year, paid for her apartment, gave her loads of money and she got in with the wrong people. She started popping...shooting up..Dilaudid....at the age of 28 she got such a severe infection it went around her heart and she was really sick for a long time. She had blown all the veins in her arms so they had to do a "cut down" on her artery in her neck to give her IV antibiotics. It was so sad. After getting well which took a very long time, she had the heart of 65 year old woman and she was 28....the last time I saw her she was straight, but you never know...both her parents now have Alzheimer's so she is taking care of them.....her brother was shot in the chest by the mother of his fiance when he was 18 years old...this sent the entire family on a downhill spiral!!!

Mary