Say

Say “NO” To Drugs

I believe that drugs do affect people more than just the users. On September 13, 2008 was the first time one of my good friends tried heroin. Sometime that night or early the next morning he died.

On the morning of September 14, 2008 I woke up to the news of a good friend overdosing on heroin. I remember my heart jumping straight into my throat and feeling like someone just punched me in the chest, knocking the wind out of me. We hadn’t hung out in a while because he got into drugs and started to hang out with the wrong people. Before he got in with the wrong crowd, him one other friend and I were always hanging out and doing everything together. We would always get in trouble for doing dumb things. Once he started hanging out with the wrong people, we saw a lot less of him, and then eventually we would just see him around. You could always tell when he wasn’t around because if he was there we would most likely be doing something mischievous. Now, a year after his death I still think about him almost every day.

That same day I also heard that another friend of mine was in a car accident because he fell asleep at the wheel and ran head on into a tree. He was on drugs and he passed out on his way to get gas. He had to be transferred to the Columbus hospital because he suffered a broken neck, broken ribs, dislocated shoulder, and cuts and scratches all over. Thankfully, he survived, fully recovered and has quit doing drugs.

This day is permanently burned into my mind, and I can’t get the picture of my best friend lying in his coffin at the calling hours and the funeral. After the funeral it felt like it was just all a dream and I couldn’t believe it. This day alone has made me not ever want to get into drugs and waste my time or money on something that could take my life. Drugs have affected my life in ways that I couldn’t think possible and it will be with me the rest of my life. I know that when people die from drugs some people to think less of that person, but I don’t think that’s fair to those people. Yeah, they made a bad mistake, we all make mistakes but it’s just that his was a bit more radical than others. I believe that drugs not only affect or ruin the person using drugs, but it also affects their friends, family, and many other people.