Recently I was walking on the Three Rivers Heritage Trail one weekday morning. It was 8AM and I knew school had already started because I had just passed a group of kids wearing gym clothes. They were following a man, who I assumed to be a P.E. teacher because he had a whistle on a string around his neck, and he was carrying a bag with a ball in it.
As I approached the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, I heard giggling just ahead out of my immediate sight. As I came around the corner, I saw a group of four or five boys on the side of the trail, laughing nervously. One kid, who was sitting on a rock, was the focal point of the group. I quickly ascertained that the reason the other boys were cackling was because the kid on the rock was in the process of rolling a joint, which I presumed he intended to share with his goofball friends.
I made eye contact with the joint roller, giving him my most stern, “knock it off and get to class” look. I didn’t say anything, though. Nobody else was around, and I didn’t feel comfortable confronting them, especially when other potentially delinquent teenage boys have said absurdly rude and provoking things to me as I walked past them on Wood Street.
The joint roller didn’t respond and his buddies ignored me. Maybe they thought I was going to be “cool” about it.
But sorry, I’m not “cool” about kids smoking pot instead of going to school. The fact is, I have conflicted feelings about the legalization of marijuana, which is one of the hottest legislative trends in the nation. Smoking pot in Pennsylvania is still not allowed, but the state legislature will likely consider a proposal to drastically reduce the penalties for possession of marijuana. In other states, getting caught with a small amount of marijuana is already about as legally serious as getting a traffic ticket.
I am all for medical marijuana, if it truly helps people suffering from serious disease and illness. But recreational pot? People who work in law enforcement strongly believe pot is a gateway drug. I once met the mother of a heroin addict who believes that, too. She told me that her son’s history of drug abuse began when he first started smoking pot.
He’s dead now. A heroin overdose killed him.
No matter what, there’s nothing “cool” about skipping school to hide behind the convention center with a couple of buddies to smoke a joint. I didn’t even think it was cool when I was a teenager and knew all the “loadies” were hanging out in the wash getting high.
So, listen up you dopey, giggly boys. Next time I see you, I’m going to call the police and ask them to send a truancy officer to break up your little party.
That’s about as “cool” as I get.
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3 Comments
I don’t really believe in the gateway drug Theory. Naturally most people who try something as serious as heroin have most likely tried something lower grade. I think many things factor into people becoming heroin addicts. To name a few, a staggering number of heroin addicts turn to heroin when they couldn’t get prescription narcotics any longer after being over prescribed by doctors who are paid money by big Pharma. The biggest gateway to heroin is other narcotic pills that are irresponsibly prescribed the moment somebody has even the slightest pain. My two-year-old son was prescribed liquid Oxycontin after having a small incision to repair a hernia. I found it disgusting that they would prescribe that to such a young child and you can bet that it went straight in the garbage. Big Pharma will lose billions of dollars if marijuana is legalized. I’d be interested to see how many of these studies on marijuana are funded by the pharmaceutical companies. Like we saw with the sugar debate it’s clear that if you pay somebody enough they will sing whatever tune you and you want them to.
Something nobody ever researched as far as I can tell is why nobody is saying alcohol is a gateway drug to heroin. Alcohol is a drug– it’s a depressant and I’m going to venture to guess that a staggering majority of heroin users have also used alcohol. The pharmaceutical companies manufacturing the narcotics that are getting people hooked on Heroin are not concerned about alcohol sales taking away money from their bottom lines; but they know that if marijuana is approved across the board for medicinal use, it will put a massive dent in their revenues.
I totally agree with you about the boys skipping school. If you’re skipping school and smoking pot behind a building, chances are you’re up to no good in other aspects of your life and headed down the wrong track.
If you’re in the unfortunate situation where a doctor starts prescribing prescribing you narcotics habitually for pain, then hopefully you have support system in your life that can help you break free of that before it leads to other things. Aside from that it all comes down to the choices we make.
Always love your blogs, Ann.
Thanks Jen. You make great points. You are also wise to understand how dangerous it was for a doctor to prescribe Oxycontin for your 2 year old! I think you are completely right about Big Pharma, which rules the medical and insurance worlds. I love to hear your perspective and appreciate the time you took to respond to my post. I’m honored! Ann