There is a huge epidemic amongst our youth that frightens me to the core. Drugs, of all sorts.

I am frightened and saddened when I hear that young and innocent lives are taken because they Over Dose. My heart aches for the families that instead of celebrating life, will be celebrating the anniversary of what could have been life. That sinking feeling that one’s life has stopped and the others is in constant turmoil and in search for clues that may have been missed or blocked because the reality was there and they chose not to see it.

Drugs, specifically I mean pot / weed / cannabis, should be banned. This innocent drug, the gateway drug that is the stepping stone to the next one, the next high, the next hell…

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana is the potential “gateway” to other drugs when used with alcohol or tobacco during the teen years, and teens will most likely use illegal drugs. As the brain continues developing unto the early 20s, exposed to addictive substances, including marijuana, changes to the developing brain makes other drugs more appealing.

Marijuana is also known as the gateway drug to opioids. According to NIH studies it links marijuana to psychotic disorders, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety…, later in life

And of course, there is the effects on your brain by starting to smoke in the teen years that may impair development, result in a lower IQ, and hinder a teen from reaching full potential. (NIDA)

Why are some parents so laid back thinking that it is ok for young adults to smoke? With all the statistics that say marijuana is not what it used to be 20 or so years ago in a pure plant form, that it has become stronger and more addictive, why is there still this nonchalant attitude towards it?

What happen when that couple of hits of pot are laced with fentanyl? Why are we all turning a blind eye?

What about the parents that smoked in their youth and now think it’s ok for their kids to smoke? Aren’t parents supposed to be the light of guidance for their kids. What message are they sending them?

Or better yet, the parent that now feels their kids are grown up enough, and now decide to smoke with their kids? And no, not for medicinal purposes either. Those parents have completely lost me and I have absolutely no respect for them. They are the hand that holding the trigger.

What would those parents do when the drugs do get stronger? What could they do or say that will make their child stop and get the help they need? Who is going to listen? Parents, aren’t they supposed to set the example? Who are they going to blame when their kids are gone? This vicious circle, loss of opportunities, loss of family, and loss of success.

I have been around successful and powerful people throughout my life. Dads and Moms that thought that it would never happen to them. The next thing they know they have lost their house, are evicted, divorced, jobless. Each time they try to put their best foot forward, the drug wins and back down they went.

It was once said “Religion is the drug of the masses”. How about we remove the word “religion” from the sentence and replace with any drug name that you want, I will replace it with “marijuana” for purposes of this conversation.

With the above statement, it was felt that religion or drugs, encourages acceptance of their condition, even alienation, lulls them to sleep and provides comfort. This ideal society was organized in a way that people did not have full control over their lives. Which is destructive to the people as it prevents them from fighting for economic freedom.

How does that relate with the drug epidemic? Well, what do drugs do to a person’s mental state? Makes them complacent, stagnant and non-reactive. By acquiring and being provided with what they desire, people can be manipulated to do what ever is wanted of them. As well as being self-destructive and crippled to seek a better life.

Is this what we accept to happen to our youth that goes down this path? The drug path; the hell path. The path of being a follower with no ideology to strive for?

Don’t we owe it to our children to provide to them a safe environment where drugs are not accepted and consequences out-weigh the “fun” high? Shouldn’t we push for stronger laws and punishments to keep it away from our streets, our schools, our lives?

Do we want generations upon generations with health, social, and economic impairments?