The Reflector

First of all I am writing to say that I have not had any experience with the Longest Health Center 'freely' dispensing drugs 'at whim.' The doctors and pharmacists there are pretty strict about dispensing drugs, as they should be. I know the preceding article does not imply they are at fault, but I wish to rule them out completely.

I'm not sure why I'm writing. I guess I'm writing to tell my story, so that maybe someone reading it will not fail, or fall, as I have.

Before I left junior college (Hinds Community College in Raymond, MS) 'back in the day' circa 1990, I had a 3.8 GPA. At present my cumulative GPA is 2.7, but my MSU GPA is less than 2.0 after about three semesters. Oh, I have been attending MSU for quite a while longer, though not recently until last semester.

The signs that I might become an addict were all there...I had a grandfather who, though a good person in most respects, and a great newspaper printer...back when the old presses were still required, he might have been the one credited with the first color printing in a newspaper, if he hadn't let alcohol abuse get in the way.

Personally, I'm anxious with respect to just about everything...yep, a perfect candidate for drug abuse. Oh, my grandfather? He drank only beer. I can drink a fifth of whiskey (80 proof) and still walk like a sober person. In fact, I did so recently, when I went to buy more whiskey. If you saw an idiot crossing highway 12 last Friday night on foot, that was me. But if you're an alcoholic, being able to 'hold you liquor' is nothing to brag about.

The funny part of the following story is that I once, and still do to a degree, romanticize the abuse of alcohol; i.e., my heroes Chuck Yeager, Indiana Jones, his girl Marion, and my Irish grandfather, all hit the bottle. Heh, reminds me of a song I once heard, though I don't know whether it were written only for the movie St. Elmo's Fire or not, "I like a girl who drinks..."

Last semester I abused clonazepam (Klonopin), alcohol, and pot. I once used pot to quit alcohol, but found that it made me more reclusive, and took away my drive to do anything but it.

Since I wanted to do well last semester, having spent my own savings on college this time around, I found that I could be fairly stable while still abusing drugs; however, I didn't realize until around midterm that pot was making me miss a lot of important things (like good note-taking), though I never smoked it before classes or tests.

Perhaps the Klonopin was that which really kept me stable, but ultimately when I decided to quit abusing drugs, I was too late to salvage any hope of passing, and I again dropped out of school. Since I am on academic probation, even after 10 years and completing an A.S. at HCC, I knew if I did not drop out, I would be suspended from State for at least a year, where my GPA went down in the first place, and consequently this cumulative GPA would again hound me no matter where I attended school, on- or off-line.

Since that time, I have STILL off and on abused drugs. I know that makes me a fool, but I blame the above on my addictions.

So after 15 years of alcohol and other drug abuse, what have I discovered?

Yes, I still need Klonapin when I'm not abusing other drugs, which I'm happy to say is less frequent now. Why? Because I'm a social recluse otherwise...paranoid and anxious about school and any sort of social activity.

I have the 'shyness gene'. Clinical psychology calls this "social anxiety." This disease is so bad that it makes me depressed, and can also lead to feelings of helplessness, and paranoia.

Ultimately, these feelings lead me to withdraw from everything, not the least of which is school.

I guess the reason I'm writing now is to say if you think you have a problem with drug abuse, don't wait to seek help. Do it now, before you do like I have and waste A LOT of money on addictions. If you have friends who can drink socially, but you cannot without abusing alcohol, I'm sorry to be the one to advise you, but you should really find some new friends with whom 'to hang.'

Last semester, finally, I got a DUI, and my license was suspended. I didn't stop driving while drunk then either, though I have since. Drinking and driving is not worth the risk of hurting someone else, myself, or getting a worse sentence in court.

Whereas once upon a time, especially in rural areas, drinking and driving might have been OK, times have changed...there are simply too many obstacles (like people) to avoid an accident.

Oh, you may have seen me riding my bike up and down Montgomery St., off of which I live. Please don't run over me then, 'cause I'm in school yet again, and can't afford any more doctor bills, or any kind of bills really. If, however, you see me crossing Highway 12 on foot, to get to and from the liquor store next to the B-Quick, which also sells every beer you've ever heard of, do me a favor, and run over me.

Cheers, bonne journee,
Pete

Last time I checked prescription drugs are legal as long as you keep your medic close... and now I hear that prescription drug problem (which are legal) is about to exceed illegal drugs problem... This should tell us something very important. This should tell us that voting for legalizing drugs won't make things better.

The abuse of prescription drugs is more widespread than I think most ppl realize. It's not weed & coke anymore (well, it still is...) but now its vicodin, adderal etc

For those of you that taking prescription pills recreationally are no big deal...BE WARNED. What started off as taking one Adderall so that I could clean my apartment or taking one xanax to mellow out turned into a full blown addiction. They made me into a zombie. I wasnt myself anymore and all I could think about was where I was going to get the next pill. I am a normal college student, I havent had a tough life, Addiction wasnt in my genes,etc. but I was hooked. Before I knew it I was getting tested for ADHD just so I could get a script to Adderall. Of course taking the pill by mouth was not good enough, so I snorted probably 4-5 Adderall per day. Luckily for me, I met a really nice and caring guy who had been through the same things and he pretty much took all my pills away. It was hard for 2-3 days with the sleepiness, etc. But after one week, I was me again. Its amazing that I actually showed emotion and cared about all the things I did before the pills. The reason Im writing this is in hope that this could change one person's mind when it comes to taking a prescription pill just to get stuff done or to mellow you out for a night at the bar. Please dont throw your self away....YOu might not have that special someone to show you the way.

AS i am the less than 25 years i know just the moral of the drug addiction.when i read the all above the comments i am under stand about the disadvantage of drug addiction.how can we stop this drug addiction from the people?
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Gomez

texas drug rehab

Epic fail, Mark. Epic fail.

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