The student news site of Westford Academy

WA Ghostwriter

The student news site of Westford Academy

WA Ghostwriter

The student news site of Westford Academy

WA Ghostwriter

Don’t be afraid to tell

Lauren Cullen
Editor-in-Chief

 

Tuesday, December 16th, Chris Herren came in to speak to the entire student body of WA to tell his story about his drug addiction. In his presentation, he encouraged students to “tell on” their friends to a parent, guidance counselor, or administration if it is known that the friend has a substance abuse problem.

While telling on your friend is in their best interest, it is an extremely tough thing to do because you don’t want to seem like a “tattle-tale” or get your friend in serious trouble for something minor. Personally, I wouldn’t want to rat out a friend to administration for occasionally smoking marijuana. I wouldn’t participate in those activities with my friend, and I would probably distance myself from them, but I wouldn’t want to get them in serious trouble over something that I and many people consider “not a big deal”. But at the same time, if my friend developed an addiction later on to something like heroin or cocaine, I would feel guilty that I never intervened when I knew they were “just smoking pot”.

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I don’t think that many students at WA would tell on their friends if it was known they smoked marijuana, but if they knew that later on in life their friends would have serious substance abuse problems that started off in high school, I’m sure almost everyone would. Imagine how guilty you would feel if years after graduating, you see your friend’s name in the paper because they were arrested on drug charges, or even worse, they overdosed.

Right now no one thinks doing drugs is a big deal, and it is almost assumed that people will “grow out of it” after high school. No one is choosing to think of what may happen later on in our lives. I think everyone should take initiative and stand up for their friends. Ask your friends why they are doing drugs. If there is something going on in their personal lives that is making them feel the need to do drugs, you need to get them help. If they are just doing them for fun, you still have the responsibility to get them help or get adults involved. Like Herren told students the other day, anyone who feels the need to get high to have fun needs just as much help as someone doing drugs to self-medicate.

This is a very tough thing to do. Having a conversation with your friend about their drug use will not be an easy one, but it is necessary. You don’t want to seem like you are tattling on your friend but at the same time, you have the responsibility to help if they aren’t getting it themselves. You don’t want to look back later in life and regret not intervening sooner.

For a recap of Chris Herren’s presentation, click here.

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  • AnonymousApr 20, 2015 at 2:03 pm

    I think people consider marijuana a gate way drug because of its absurd legal classification in the United States. I do not doubt that many cannabis or psychedelic users move on to opiates- I cannot argue with statistics; however, does it not make more sense that this is because we live in a country where a drug like marijuana is treated the same way that heroin is? Yes, pot is a drug, and no, it is NOT harmless and has some minor health effects, but alcohol is a drug, caffeine is a drug, tylenol is a drug as well. As a society, we consume many legal, acceptable drugs on a daily basis- some of which are much more harmful than cannabis or hash. How come a man smoking his cigarette is not deemed a future drug addict, but a kid lighting a joint is? Because of how we have dramatized the harms of this substance, we, as a society, are turning kids, who would not try cocaine otherwise, into heavy drug users. Once someone associates marijuana with opiates, the sky is the limit for trying any drug after that. There is a line of legality in our modern drug culture which some cross, while others do not. On one side of this line lay caffeine, tobacco, Advil, Tylenol; substances we would not even consider drugs regularly speaking. On the other side lay mescaline, heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and in the US: marijuana. Once a teen crosses that line of legality to try marijuana, realizing he has been lied to, realizing there is nothing to worry about, what keeps him from testing speed? testing downers?The epidemic, if present, is not the fault of marijuana, it is the fault of us. Its time we move marijuana and hashish to the other side of the line, and stop turning experimental teens into criminals.

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