12 Apr, 2018
A week ago he lay on a sandy beach on spring break having the time of his life. Today, he lays in a county coroner’s morgue lifeless -the victim of a drug deal gone bad. A deal over marijuana. He was 17 years young, so too the young man who pulled the trigger and shot him in the chest…over Weed. Weed.
Before the gun debate begins, let’s get one thing straight-A Human life was lost over marijuana. The sale and purchase of Marijuana is illegal in North Carolina It is a crime. While state after state in this once great country vote to legalize this so-called innocuous drug, it is not legal here. That law did not stop anyone from getting it to sell or stop anyone from attempting to buy it. And now a 17 year old is dead and a 17 year old faces life without parole because the “deal went bad”. I hate drugs.
Please do not tell me that you do not mind if your child smokes Weed- that it is safer than drinking. If you grew up in the 80’s, this isn’t your Pot. I’ll leave it to you to do the research, but suffice it to say that it is full of all kinds of things that your Pot was not. I never smoked Pot, didn’t have the desire and did not like the smell. Today’s Weed smells like skunk. It is full of things meant to addict. Don’t believe me, ask yourself why professional athletes like NFL star Pittsburgh Steelers Martavais Bryant cannot stay off the stuff. In 2016 he lost a MILLION DOLLARS of pay after failing a drug test for the third time for Weed. He battled back in 2017 for a last chance. He is just one of athletes who cannot kick the crap. He is a phenomenal, disciplined athlete. What chance do our kids have? I hate drugs.
The body and brain are at the second greatest growth spurts since infancy in the teen years. The brain doesn’t fully develop until age 25. Medical experts are now considering extending the age of adolescence to 25 for that reason. So why are we saying as a society that it is okay for kids to smoke Weed? It has been proven again and again that teen marijuana use causes multiple problems including behavioral issues-depression and anxiety, and other types of substance abuse, It is a gateway drug. There is a growing pile of evidence that links a steady marijuana habit to poorer mental and cognitive health outcomes among teens and lower IQ’s that never recover. I hate drugs.
Maybe you are in the “Not My Kid” crowd. We all are. Let me tell you a thing or two. If $20 dollars goes missing from your wallet on a consistent basis, your kid is doing drugs. If your credit card or debit card goes missing from time to time, your kid is doing drugs. If your child becomes apathetic towards you, school or anything they used to take interest in, they are doing drugs. If their grades drop, they are doing drugs. If their appearance becomes less than what it once was, they are doing drugs. If they call you names, tell you that they hate you, that you are crazy and that everyone knows it, they are doing drugs. The list goes on, but I think you can start to see the signs.
We have an Opioid Epidemic in America that is killing us. The latest data has the death rate at 64,000 people in a year. That are 6,000 more casualties than the total United States loss in the Viet Nam War. Yet, there are no Marches For Saving Our Kids on Washington DC. We’ve seen the stories of the couples dead in their cars of overdoses with their children still in the car seats in the back, the mom dead in the aisle of the store, her two year old sitting aside her. Opioids are almost glamorized. John Belushi, Chris Farley, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Prince all died from opioid induced deaths. No one does anything. I hate drugs.
I know of a family in Greensboro who lost their son to Xanax mixed with a night of drinking. His friends thought he had just passed out and they left to move on to another party. He was dead. The alcohol and Xanax together suppressed his central nervous system to the point of death. DEATH. Xanax dealers are now crushing the pills, lacing them with Fentanyl, repressing the pills and then selling them to unknowing users. It stretches the Xanax supply and gives a stronger high to the user. The problem is Fentanyl is an opioid. If the unknowing user mixes that with alcohol the result is death.
If you have any prescription drugs in your house, buy a lockbox like the ones that they have at high school games where they put the ticket money. Lock your pills inside. Teens will try anything that you have. Codeine is the most highly prescribed pain medication. It is an opioid. Percocet is an opiate and Vicodin contains a semi synthetic opiate. Muscle relaxants, anti anxiety meds- your house is a hotbed for drug experimentation if you are not vigilant.
I was a member of the “Not My Kid Club”. Now I am a member of an entirely different club. I stand shoulder to shoulder with parents who, like me, fight a battle against a hated foe for someone that they love. It is a foe that I hope will never lose to again. I try to keep my eyes wide open. I stand at the ready for the signals, the clues, the glaring signs right in front of me that I missed before. Not again, I say. But it could happen again. We all know. It’s an insidious, sneaky foe that fools its victims into thinking that it feels good-while it lays waste to everything and everyone in its path. I hate drugs. I despise them. There is not one that I would say is okay for my child or any child to do. I HATE DRUGS.
So I will tell you this one final time, never tell me again that you think that it’s okay for teens to smoke marijuana. That it is no big deal. Heavier drug use starts somewhere and it is no where good. One thing does lead to another. The young man who died of Xanax and alcohol did not start with Xanax. My bet was Weed. Today in Greensboro a 17 year old is dead because of marijuana.-a 17 year old faces life without parole because of marijuana. “A Drug Deal Gone Bad” has been the headline. That has to be the greatest trivialization of that young man’s abrupt end of life ever spoken. I hate drugs. You should too.
IT'S A HARnDen LIFE... 