[merylsilverburg]

I suppose I am an close-minded person too, since I agree that people who use drugs are weak. Let me clarify what I mean by "weak"...

For me, there are several types of people:

1) the ones who are weak are the ones who know the effects of drugs but use it as "fun" then bitch about it later.

2) the ones who use it plainly to escape their problems, thinking it'll definitely help them, then bitch later or say something like "I didn't know...I was only trying to help myself get by"...they are weak too.

3) the ones who know the consequences and do it anyway, for either pleasure or escape...they are not weak to me because that is their choice and they knew what will happen.

What can I say? I understand that drugs are something that can temporarily provide relief, but in the end, it's just going to create bigger problems for the user (rehab, hospitalizations, etc.) and the problems will still remain there. And since the person is so messed up in the head from the drugs, the problems may appear to be even worse than they were or will create bigger problems. For example:

Let's just say there's a kid who has a ton of family issues. Dad's a loser, the Mom is the hero. Let's just say, the kid in the family thinks to him/herself, "Man, I wish I could do something to help my mom! I wanna help her, but what?" They can't think of anything...they grow more desperate...they don't know what to do...then, BOOM! One day, someone at school says, "Yo man, want some of this weed?" (or whatever drug) and that desperate kid thinks "Maybe I should...I'm so desperate for some relief of trying to think of reason to help my mom that I'm going crazy!" so the kid takes it. Oh gee...whaddya know? The kid keeps taking it...and more and more. Sooner or later, they end up in the hospital, all messed up and crap, and the mom has to be all worried sick about their child and trying to pay for all the medical bills and more. Oh yeah, real smart...you're definitely helping your mom by lying in the hospital.

And if it's not this sort of example, then it's something stupid that doesn't need the use of drugs. Like, I dunno...relationship issues or something. People have taken drugs just because they can't be with whoever they like or someone cheated on them or something else.

Oh! And what about parents, huh? Parents who are having troubles and they use drugs to get away from their problems. Like, for example:

The dad cheats on the wife and moves away with the new young flame. The dad is the finanical provider of the family. The mom takes care of the kids. Okay...so, let's say that happens and the mom is left with the kids. She needs to quickly get a job and stuff, but oh no...she's so torn up about the father leaving, having an affair, etc. etc. She becomes desperate...she thinks "I gotta provide for my kids!" but...she's so distraught about the situation, she can't think of anything else. She's angry...she's sad...she's worried. So, she takes drugs to "get away" temporarily. Or drinks. Once again, real smart: the kids are starving in the corner because their mom is wasting their life away and can't get back on their feet again. So then, what happens? Are the kids, who are 7 and 12 gonna get jobs right now? Are they going to continue going to school being proper good kids and finish school and get a fantastic job and help out their mom? Uh...I don't think so (not all the time anyway...it rarely happens though). They continue to go to school and then, they too, get influenced by drugs (because, hey! Mom is using them, life is messed up, so why not?) so, they take drugs and the cycle continues...

I really think that people who use drugs are way too easily influenced. People say stuff like "Oh, I only use drugs to maintain my sanity...you know, so I can continue living and surviving". What the heck? You don't need drugs to survive. You're more likely to die than live on if you use the stuff. Survival are for people, like those who grew up in bad neighborhoods where violence and gangs are as common as grass, they need to learn how to fight and defend themselves in order to survive. But drugs are no excuse.

As for the teachings of drugs in schools...every state is different, but I was taught about the bad effects of drugs when I was in second grade...we had a cop come in once every week to inform us on everything about illegal acts (drugs, guns, violence, you name it we learned it). So, for people like us who were prepared and informed at such an early age, we cannot say "Duuuude...I totally didn't know about the effects of drugs!" Well, that's your fault then, right? And for people who learned about drugs in High School...well...it's kinda common sense that drugs are bad for you...so for those who learned it late and say, "Oh, I didn't know!" Okay, fine...you didn't know. But how stupid are you not to know what drugs can do to you? Just check out a film or a TV show or the news! They talk about it.

As for trunks saying that people on here will think "trunks is a bad kid..he does drugs" just because he revealed it...I don't think people on here are so dumb that we don't know that some members on here does drugs/have done drugs. Everyone on here are real people...just because we're all gathered at this nice community doesn't mean that everyone on here is a Brady Bunch kid.

So, now to me: Am I branding every soul on the planet as losers just because they use drugs? Well, not the people who know the consequences and do it anyway. That's their problem, that's their own choice. I'm talking about the people who know the effect of drugs and they do it anyway and then bitch about it. As I stated before, drugs are never gonna help a person in the long run. Sure, they provide the relief for a while, but once your sense of reality is back, life is gonna be even more shittier than ever. Seriously, there are people who use drugs, get happy for a while, then the drug dies off and they come back to reality. They're gonna start crying and becoming depressed because they deem themselves as "weak" for using the drugs and they're now depressed even more because they used the drugs! Well, why did you do it in the first place then?! That's what I'm saying. Using drugs is just creating bigger problems from the core of the problem that started it. It's almost like lying. If you lie to a person and continue the lie, it's gonna create a huger problem in the end, right? So, tell the truth. Same thing: don't use drugs...try to take care of the core problem at hand because if you use drugs, it's just going to make it worse. And now, I'm just repeating myself...

I'm not saying that people who have problems can't use drugs, but it's not good to use them as a way to escape because they aren't going to help in the end. It's just not, no matter how many ways you look at it. And I know there are people who have problems after problems that are just so overwhelming and hectic beyond belief...but in these cases, a person has to be strong and try to keep a level head. I'm not saying that every situation is completely perfect and always has a solution...right now, for example, there is a friggin' situation going on in my life that is so completely messed up that I'm getting goddamn pissed off just typing these words out, but I'm not gonna go out and find a drug dealer and say, "Give whatever you've got to me, I need it now!" No. Because I need to be focused to prepare myself for the future, to prepare myself for whatever other troubles come along, and for anything else that will try to shake me down. Me using drugs will make me completely vulnerable and just useless to anyone. And back in sixth grade, when my life was completely turned upside down, that waking up everyday seemed impossible, I didn't not go out to school and try to find drugs to relieve my sorrows. Sure, I grew depressed, so I guess that makes me weak, but I was still pretty much coherant and alert enough to know what was going on in the world despite my inner stress and emotions.

Sorry for this long post...I just get so enraged whenever the topic of drugs come up.