6 | PERSPECTIVES
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Thursday, April 10, 2008
Perspectives
Peer pressure: the building block to meth use IN MY OPINION
JllllAN
SMITH
PERSPECTIVES EDITOR JKS724@CABRINI.EDU
I was flipping through the TV channels trying to find something mindless enough to make me fall asleep, something that wouldn’t keep me interested for very long and would soon be just a distant buzzing in my dreams. Mind you, it was 5 a.m. So as I numbly sat in bed pushing the channel-up button every 2 seconds, a cute southern-accented boy caught my attention. I put the remote down, volumed up twice and stared at the TV waiting to see what he was talking about. He was walking along, what seemed like a quaint little neighborhood, talking to an interviewer off camera – this was definitely a documentary – about how
bad his life had been and how screwed up he was. As I listened more intently, wondering why this cute southern boy was so messed up, a cut in for a commercial break pops up with the title of the documentary, “A Question of Life or Meth” on A&E in the classroom written in white with a black background. Wait. Excuse me? Life or Meth? Meth as in crystal methamphetamine, the drug? I sat through the commercials to see exactly what my southern boy was going to say next. And just as I had suspected, the cute 20something-year-old was a recovering meth addict and was telling his story about his times using. The documentary showed pictures of his “meth mouth” with rotted and decaying teeth and many holes from where teeth had fallen out. Next, a medical doctor showed viewers a quick look at a common “meth lab” used to make crystal meth. They showed many of the ingredients – one being Draino, yeah, the stuff
you use to unclog your drains, and crushed up common cold medicines. Not to mention that while making crystal meth there is a chance of it exploding if one of the gases used is overheated. As I sat in bed watching this documentary, it hit me. Why on Earth would anyone want to do meth? Why would anyone inject themselves or smoke “poison” to get them high? I continued to watch the documentary, listening to people’s meth addiction stories. Most of the people interviewed were young. The youngest being a 17year-old girl. Most of the stories were the same – they went out with friends, noticed they were doing meth and decided to join in. They all regretted their first time. There was my answer as to why anyone would want try meth: peer pressure. Yeah, there were some cases of depression and meth’s high made them feel great, however, it all boiled down to one simple fact – peer pressure was the building block for meth use. Weren’t we all taught
how to say “no” to peer pressure back in middle school and then again in high school? That it was “okay” to turn down “friends” who coerced you into doing something because in the end, they weren’t really your friends? Okay, I know. I went to middle school and high school too and I know that it is never that easy to say no to someone you think of as a friend. However, if you know it’s wrong and have any respect for yourself whatsoever, then you know how to stand up to that person without feeling like an idiot. And if you can’t stand up to that person because you are afraid to lose them as a friend – then they were never your friend to begin with because friends respect friends’ decisions. Also, along with peer pressure, will-power to stay strong against friends and drug use is another main factor of why so many people succumb to addiction. These two go handin-hand. Standing your ground in a situation where friends are trying to persuade you
to do something is one of those things you will feel proud of later, no matter how many times your “friends” made fun of you or mocked you. Throughout the documentary were mock-commercials in which a story from the documentary was turned into one- to twominute anti-meth use ad. One ad started with a young girl driving in her car with her voice-over saying something like, “I was on my way to the party. I wish my car would have gone off the road. I wish it would have flipped over. I wished
the crash would have broken my neck. I wish I would have died. Instead, I went to the party and got addicted to meth.” Then a quick shot of the girl lighting up with dry, cracked skin, wrinkles, dark circles under her eyes and cuts and scars on her lips and face. She would rather have died that night than go to that party and start using meth. Wow. Peer pressure is a terrible thing. Having respect for yourself and for your body to not allow something so deadly slowly kill you isn’t.
Methamphetamine • Street name: crank, crystal, speed • Methods of usage: Usually injected,
also sniffed or taken orally
• Small dose effects: Euphoria,
increased engery, hyperactivity, sleeplessness
• Large dose effects: Halucinations, paranoia, high fever, heart failure, death
• Long term effects: physical addiction,
distorted perception and thoughts, anxiety, suicidal tendencies JILLIAN SMITH/SOURCE: MCT CAMPUS
Keep trying, don’t give up Formal fun, even if not cool IN MY OPINION
BRITTANY
McLEOD
ASST. COPY EDITOR BLM726@CABRINI.EDU
There are things in this world that will push us further than we ever knew we could go. There are things that will destroy us, joy us and annoy us but nevertheless there is a life we have been given to live. Everyone has a story to tell. Everyone has something to offer. We can make an impact on a daily basis. It may not be inventing a cure for cancer or a solution to global warming, but it is a contribution felt by everyone you’ve ever touched in this world. We have all reached the point of exhaustion, where we would rather give up than keep going but we must believe there is a reason we
should. It may be winning a championship, getting a promotion or having your heart put back together, but whatever it is, it is worth attaining. It is the hardest thing in the world to look at someone you love who is on the verge of giving up completely. It is hard to look at them and ask them to keep going. It is terrible to feel helpless. But what we need to remember is that we must not give up either. We cannot give up on ourselves and also the ones we love. Some of us have bad luck; where it seems we just cannot win. But when you think about it, trying has got to better than surrendering. It is incredibly tough to keep going when it seems you can do no right. Life throws a curve ball and we didn’t even know we were up to bat. Everyone has felt it. Everyone has experienced it. So why is it so hard to find a way out? We struggle to find something to hold on to when nothing is going right. It’s easier to be lazy and sit around all day than it is to keep active. But don’t we get tired of being tired? We
can’t let ourselves get sucked into a vicious circle that traps us in sadness and unwillingness. Not everyone is given the chance for great things but it is not what you do, it is how you do it. Everyone can be great at something. Our friends, family, teammates and colleagues can only push us so hard. When we do have people around us who are helping us along the way, it becomes time to step back and take a look at the luck we’ve failed to notice. How lucky it is to have people who care enough to show they’re concerned or show they’re aware something is wrong. We must surround ourselves with people who are proactive. But these people only have so much they can give. The rest is up to you. It is up to you to fight to the finish. It is up to you to work late. It is up to you to go out and find the one you love. It is up to you to never give up.
I N M Y OP I NI ON
JESSIE HOLEVA ASST. PERSPECTIVES EDITOR JH734@CABRINI.EDU
Going to the big dance was the thing to do in high school. I didn’t miss one and I’d be on the floor till the very last song. It’s college now, and I’m still jumping at the opportunity to bust a move. It’s not quite as cool now but I can’t seem to figure out why. Sure it’s a little expensive on the Ramen noodle eater’s budget, pricing in
at $40 a ticket. Maybe the food wasn’t too exotic, with the exception of mini tacos which I indulged in. And there wasn’t even an open bar. Setting the negatives aside, it was an overall fun excursion for a Friday night. The music was blissful and the small crowd grinded like it was 1999. So why is it many college students bashed the dance and made it sound lame? Perhaps they never heard of Darren’s dance moves which you can purchase on DVD. Maybe these wallflowers were just too embarrassed about the crazy dance skills they lacked. I can’t think of another reason why someone wouldn’t want to get dressed up and have an excuse to shake what their
mama gave ‘em. Hits were played, like the Miley Cyrus hit “See You Again” along with Journey, Bon Jovi and of course, Hanson. There was even luxurious transportation provided in the form of a yellow school bus which was referred to as a shuttle. This came in handy for those drinking or lacking ownership of an automobile. The formal ended early enough, 11 p.m., where there was still enough time to go to another party-like location in case the dance ended up being boring and tedious. Overall, it was a blast but then again I’m an extraordinary dancer. If you had two left feet or hated fast music then I could see why you wouldn’t have enjoyed the event.
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