Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts
By Alyce Wilson
August 25, 2004 - Scared Straight
I just found out this week that a friend of mine from college, who got in trouble with the law for growing a few pot plants in his yard, is being hit with a pretty severe sentence for a first-time offender.
He has to go through forced rehab and then six months in a work release program, finally ending with a decade of probation, during which time he must take random drug tests.
So yesterday, I sent him a letter, including a portion of my poetry book. His mom suggested sending it in segments as part of a letter, since he's only allowed so many books.
This isn't the first friend who ran afoul of the law for a drug offense. A friend and former housemate was just recently released from jail after doing several years for selling LSD at a Grateful Dead show. The scariest part of that sentence was the way it was worded, which was something like "eight years to life." Fortunately, he demonstrated good behavior and made parole as soon as he was eligible.
He's now married and committed to turning his life around.
Even though, during my hippie days, I spent a lot of time around people who smoked pot or dropped acid regularly, I never really got into it personally. It was easy to make a clean break from it when my life changed and I no longer hung around the same people quite so much.
I've seen many people since then get into all sorts of trouble for what started initially as recreational drug use. In addition to friends going to jail, I've also known people whose mental health suffered because of taking LSD, including one who was institutionalized. I wrote about some of this in an earlier musing.
Not to mention, I've had a couple acquaintances who actually died of overdoses.
It's a shame that the "Just Say No" ads approached the problem in a way that didn't appeal to many young people. The truth is, when you're young you think you're immortal. Even dire consequences like prison, insanity and death seem far-fetched.
Take it
from me. I've seen enough just from the people I've known to be soured
on that way of life. I only hope my friends who've had a harder time leaving
that life than I did will find a way to learn from their mistakes and
turn their lives around.
Moral:
Stop if you're doing drugs; don't start if you're not.
Copyright
2004 by Alyce Wilson
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