Drugs: The thin line between education and encouragement.<\/p>\n
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Just say no, that\u2019s all they tell you, say no to drugs and you\u2019ll be fine. Take drugs and they will ruin your life. These words come from a solid place.<\/p>\n
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Parents and teachers who care about our safety mean well, but what does Miss Howard the Maths teacher know about drugs?<\/p>\n
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Has she ever been wrecked at a rave, or found herself clambering about in a K-hole? Probably not.<\/p>\n
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So as we get older, her words seem a little less meaningful and the heavy warnings a little more distant.<\/p>\n
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They tell us to just say no, and you do.<\/p>\n
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But as your parent’s influence fades and your curiosity grows, those no\u2019s begin to sound a little more like yes\u2019s.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s not the hooded stranger in an alleyway offering you a taste of excitement- it\u2019s your friend in a nightclub toilet, offering you a little pill and, well, he seems alright on them doesn’t he?<\/p>\n
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He proudly boasts that he\u2019s taken six, so what\u2019s one going to do to you?<\/p>\n
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So you take it, and you love it.<\/p>\n
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That feeling is serotonin flooding your brain.<\/p>\n
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It is the chemical in your brain responsible for \u201chappiness\u201d and \u201cwell-being\u201d, and now you have it on demand.<\/p>\n
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You wake up the next day feeling a little worse for wear- sore head, sick stomach and a little depressed, but no worse than your average hangover bar a sore jaw.<\/p>\n
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What were your parents thinking? Your life isn\u2019t ruined, you\u2019re not addicted?<\/p>\n
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They lied to you, your world didn\u2019t end when you took that pill, it\u2019s obvious now that Miss Howard the Maths teacher knows sweet fuck all about drugs.<\/p>\n
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But here\u2019s the kicker kid- chances are, neither do you.<\/p>\n
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So the next weekend, you take another one, you might try something else, this whole new world has opened up around you.<\/p>\n
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If they lied about ecstasy, they probably lied about coke too.<\/p>\n
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Where do you draw the line when you don\u2019t even know the map?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n What\u2019s the difference between speed and meth, or coke and crack?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n No one ever told you. They just told you to say no.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But you’re saying yes now and like a bad Trainspotting parody, you are saying yes just little too much.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But it\u2019s ok because you know what you are doing, don\u2019t you? Do you?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So tell me, do you know that if you take ecstasy while you are on certain anti-depressants such as SSRI\u2019s or SNRI\u2019s it can kill you instantaneously?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How about the added risk of taking cocaine and alcohol together, which is far more dangerous than just taking cocaine on its own.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I guess they forgot to mention this in your three-word drug education program.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The bogeyman only keeps the kids out of the attic until they stop believing in him.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Maybe it\u2019s time we start educating young people more thoroughly on drugs instead of just skimming over the surface.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After all, preaching abstinence never exactly worked for sex education, so why do we believe it will work here?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I have seen people overdose on MDMA, had friends kill themselves on the comedown and even witnessed a family member suffer a heart attack due to cocaine.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I have learned the true nature of drugs the hard way, but others don\u2019t have too.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There is a battle for drug education right now.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A Facebook page by the name of SeshSafety, which promotes reduction in harm from drugs, has recently been shut down by Facebook.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A pamphlet in Pamplona in Spain is facing backlash for telling people \u201chow to do cocaine\u201d and some of the previous generations are yelling at their TV screens when they see stories about drug testing at music festivals.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Older generations don\u2019t see the line between education and encouragement because they can\u2019t see the difference.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It would be an ideal world where the youth didn\u2019t feel the need to abuse substances to escape reality, but this isn\u2019t an ideal world.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n There is this mentality that by providing an education we are giving permission.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But these kids don\u2019t need your permission.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s time to realize they have their own agency and they are going to make their own mistakes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Young people are going to do drugs, no matter what we do, but maybe we can stop them dying.<\/p>\n