Ah, drugs. What a great thing, huh? They can heal you when you’re sick, and, in my case, they can make you sick. Going to high school in a small town, I know all about drugs. You never really hear about drug use in bigger cities. I mean, you hear about it, but since it is so commonplace, you just tune it out. But if there is a drug problem in a small town, it’s all over the news.

I live in a small coastal community in Oregon. And in my tiny world, we have one of the biggest meth problems in this region. I have gone to school, worked with, and known many people that either have or had meth addictions, and it all started when they were young. Meth isn’t the only drug they use however. It usually starts off with pot, then proceeds to something more.

I actually don’t consider pot to be a drug. I mean, of course it is, but of all things someone could do, I believe pot to be of the least concern. Many of my friends smoke pot. I, however, do not, and never have. I never will either. I made a commitment to myself, and I plan on sticking to it. I have seen it lead to too many downfalls.

I was one of the few people in my high school who did not use drugs (including pot) or drink. I would say 95% of the school did. Now, at 22, I look at my schoolmates, and I see the division. Those of us who did not participate in any of that have steady jobs, are continuing our education, and are happy. Most who did participate in those activities are now married and/or pregnant, unhappy, and float from job to job. Of course, I’m not saying that all are like this, just most. I am friends with very few of those people anymore. I spent a lot of energy trying to get my friends to focus their attention elsewhere, like I did, but I realized that some people just can’t be helped.

This sounds very judgmental on my part, and I apologize for that. Not all drug users are bad people. Most aren’t. I guess I look at it in terms of success. As Americans, we are brought up to believe that we need to be all that we can be (and not just in the army). We are told that we should achieve the most we can. I look at teen drug users as people who have veered off that path. Some get back on, or can continue on it even with drugs. Some never get back on. I have chosen to stay on that path, and focus my attention elsewhere. I do drink, but drinking is legal. And yes, sometimes it can do worse damage than drugs, but having a drink every now and then is not going to hurt you as much as using meth.

The most common excuse I heard for all of these activities was boredom. “There is nothing to do in a small town”. Somehow, my friends and I found things to do, without doing drugs. I focused on school. I went for walks when I was bored. My friends and I had movie nights, instead of going to the drug-filled parties. What I think is that teens in small towns see people in bigger towns doing drugs, and think it’s the cool thing to do. If only they could flash-forward to the future to see that it isn’t the cool thing to do.