(This article was first written and published in the Gospel Advocate April 23, 1970)
The day of drugs is with us. We may not like it or even know it, but it is here anyway. Only a small minority are “hooked” but the overwhelming majority of teenagers will be exposed to it, one way or another before long. (I guess dad was a ‘prophet’) All signs point to a banner year for illicit use of drugs in 1970. Some authorities estimate that 20-million Americans have tried some form of drugs and just how much of this “iceberg” has surfaced, no one really knows.
Drugs come in various colors and sizes but three basic kinds. There are stimulants (Benzedrine, Dexedrine Methedrine). The misuse of these drugs has produced the slang terms “pep-pills,” “Bennies,” and “speed.” Then there are the hard narcotics, heroin, morphine, paregoric and codeine. These are pain killing drugs made from opium. Several synthetic drugs such as demerol and dolophine, are also classed as narcotics. Cocaine made from cocoa leaves, and marijuana are classified legally but not chemically as narcotic drugs. The comes LSD, a powerful man made chemical, lysergic acid diethylamide. The power of LSD is seen in the fact that a single ounce is enough to provide 300,000 average size doses. Legally classified a hallucinogen – a mind affecting drug. LSD is noted mainly for producing strong and bizarre mental reactions in people, often producing what is commonly called “a bad trip.”
The primary appeal of all drugs is to those whose burdens seem overwhelming, problems insoluble and whose lives generally are in difficulty. Addicts often come from broken homes. Children of alcoholic parents are often found “hooked” on drugs. Mothers and dads who are extremely permissive and indulgent seem to produce the best candidates for the “freak-heads who “cop out” on drugs.
Recently, it was the writers privilege to interview numerous inmates in one of our federal dope addiction centers. The respondents seemed all too glad to speak freely of their slavery in the hope that their example might be a grave warning to others. As one put it, “If just one is helped, it will be worth the effort.” Most of those interviewed had tried all kinds of drugs, yet all were confirmed heroine addicts. Here are some of their words of advice…
“DON’T DO IT!” These three words were repeated again and again – over and over in response to the question, “WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO A YOUNGSTER WHO WAS ABOUT TO EXPERIMENT WITH DRUGS?” One young man continued, “DRUGS BECOME THE VERY CENTER OF YOUR LIFE. YOU LOOSE INTEREST IN SCHOOL, WORK, HOME AND EVEN SEX. WHEN YOU ARE ‘HOOKED,’ YOU COULD CARE LESS. WHEN YOU NEED A ‘FIX’ THERE IS NOTHING YOU WILL NOT DO AND NOONE YOU WILL NOT USE TO GET IT. YOU KNOW, YOU BECOME A KIND OF ZOMBIE, BELONGING NOWHERE, JUST EXISTING EACH DAY FOR YOUR HABIT. WHEN YOU DRIFT TO ANOTHER TOWN, YOUR FIRST INTEREST IS TO FIND A ‘PUSHER OR DEALER.’ IN THE RIGHT KIND OF NEIGHBORHOOD YOU CAN JUST ASK MOST ANYONE ON THE STREET ‘CAN YOU HELP A BROTHER OUT?’ IF HE DEALS HE CAN SELL IT TO YOU RIGHT ON THE SPOT. YOU CAN COOK AND SHOOT IT ALMOST ANYWHERE. IN A BIG CITY, THERE IS JUST SO MANY OF YOU THAT YOU TEND TO GET LOST IN THE CROWD, AND NO ONE REALLY CARE ANYWAY. YOU CAN BUY A ‘PIECE,’ A ‘BAG,’ OR A ‘BUNDLE.’ A BUNDLE GENERALLY CONSISTS OF TEN BAGS THE MAFIA SETS THE PRICE, GENERALLY (OR THE CARTEL NOW.) THE AVERAGE HEROINE HABIT COSTS ABOUT ONE HUNDERED DOLLARS A DAY, SOME MORE, SOME LESS. THOSE WHO DO NOT DEAL GENERALLY STEAL OR PROSTITUTE OR HAVE TO PANHANDLE TO GET THEIR MONEY TOGETHER. JAIL ALWAYS MEANS ONE THING TO AN ADICT – ‘COLD-TURKEY,’ WITHDRAWAL WITHOUT THE AIDS OF SYNTHETIC DRUGS. IT IS HELL ON EARTH. NOTHING AND NO ONE CAN DESCRIBE IT. YOU SWEAT, SHAKE, GET CHILLS, HAVE NAUSEA, SUFFER ACUTE DIARRHEA AND GENERALLY SUFFER SHARP ABDOMINAL AND LEG CRAMPS. FOUR OF MY CLOSE FRIENDS HAVE COMMITTED SUICIDE AND A COUPLE HAVE DIED FROM AN O.D. (OVER DOSE). PLEASE TELL THEM, TELL THEM ALL – DON’T DO IT – DON’T START IT. IT IS NO GOOD. NO GOOD AT ALL. YOU END UP BAD, EVERY TIME. EVERYONE ALWAYS THINKS HA IS GOING TO BE THE EXCEPTION. WE ARE ALL FOOLS — THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS.”
To listen to one after the other tell of broken lives, broken grades, broken ambitions, broken homes, broken convictions; to see the empty foreign glaze in their eyes; to watch them wander aimlessly through the halls and wonder how to put life back together, or whether it was really worth putting together; to hear them moan and groan and see the tearsment o fall did something to me. IT CONVINCED ME THAT MOST “JUNKIES” WOULD HAVE NEVER STARTED ON JUNK HAD THEY BEEM FULLY INFORMED. Ignorance concerning drugs is the real enemy. If enough of us “will get involved” or “hooked” on the idea of telling the truth about drugs – now – of laying a solid foundation of straight information at the feet of this generation, I believe the overwhelming majority will make the right choice.
Get involved
Get informed
Get information
Get busy, (starting at home) giving answers to questions, even when they are not asked, concerning a major threat that hangs over this nation today.
For a beginner, write U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare and ask for a public health service publication Nos. 1827, 1828, 1829, and 1830.
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So what do you think? Was dad a ‘prophet?’ In the Biblical since, Nah. Has the use of drugs gotten worse? Yes! Do you know anyone who has suffered from this plague? I would bet you (if I were a betting man) everyone who reads this would admit to the affirmative, including this writer.
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