Drug Addiction Stories & Info

For years my family tried to tell me that marijuana was a gateway drug. I did not believe them. I was doing good. I was a good student, my friends were cool, none of us were losers or into hard drugs. We just had marijuana sometimes to relax when we were all hanging out. We went on to college. It was no big deal. Still, my mom kept telling me it was a gateway drug and I always had an argument against it.

So off to college I went. My friends and I were having a blast, getting to call the shots, be our own bosses. We made it through our freshman year and decided as sophomores that we were grown and wanted an apartment off campus. That is when I met Shelley.

Shelley lived next door and I fell for her the first moment I laid eyes on her. She came to one of our parties and when we brought out the marijuana, she laughed. She said it was for babies, that she she smoked it until she “graduated” to better stuff. She brought out some crystal meth. Not wanting to look like a baby to the gorgeous neighbor I was smitten with, I tried it. You can guess the rest, right?

My grades plummeted. Shelley dumped me for her meth dealer. I went home. My mother told me “See? I was right. Marijuana is the gateway to other drugs.” My mom helped me get clean and I ended up graduating a year and a half later than I should have from college.

That argument still exists to this day. Is marijuana a gateway to other drugs? Yes and no. Yes, if you are on marijuana, you could be more inclined to take something stronger. Some people do it because marijuana no longer “does it” for them as those in my N.A. Group stated. In my case, though? I have to call a spade a spade. If there was a definitive reason? It was closer to peer pressure without the pressure. I wanted to impress Shelley. So in my case, I have to say marijuana was not a gateway. However, my mother and a couple of people in my support group gave me a sound argument to think about: was it the fact that I was already high from the marijuana that night? Was marijuana the gateway or just impressing Shelley?  I do not know. Maybe, it was a combination of both. Either way, I got clean and I do not take either one now. That is the most important fact of all in my own story.

Apparently Samantha had decided that she needed to go to the rest room, and had excused herself.  She walked from the garden where they had been sitting and past the pool when she either slipped or stumbled into the pool and drowned.  Paramedics who arrived less than five minutes later pronounced her dead on the scene.

At the mention of the word ‘cops’, the party crowd dispersed, including Tobias and his friend who had brought along the Crystal Meth to get the real party started.   The only people who remained were a few of the crowd who had actually not been using Crystal Meth or drinking and were able to explain to the police whose home it was, who had given the party, and exactly what happened.  Tobias and his friend were arrested about two hours later, when they were found in a local park.  Both Tobias and his friend were in possession of Crystal Meth and are facing jail time.  Ironically, six months earlier, Tobias was also guaranteed a scholarship to the school of his choice, until he tried Crystal Meth for the first time and everything started spiraling downward.

Samantha’s family was expecting her at around midnight, and when she didn’t arrive by 12:30, they tried her cell phone.  She had always been punctual and never missed a curfew.  When she didn’t answer the phone they became worried, and ten minutes later their worst fears were confirmed. Two police officers arrived at their doorstep to tell them that their daughter, who was supposed to graduate in two days, had died when she’d fallen into a swimming pool and drowned after smoking Crystal Meth.

Even now, as her parents and family prepares for her funeral, they still don’t understand why Samantha would have made the choice to smoke Crystal Meth when she’d always been against drugs of any type.  She was a wonderful child, never gave her parents any trouble, made excellent grades and was loved by all, but yet one wrong choice altered her mind and she ultimately paid the price and was robbed of her future.

As for Tobias, he is in jail and is facing charges for more than drug possession.  At this moment he’s going through withdrawal from the Crystal Meth and his family is hoping that the courts will allow him to get into a rehabilitation facility.  Once he’s clean, he’s going to have to live with his choices and the ultimate consequences of those choices for the rest of his life, while Samantha’s family try to pick up the pieces and find a way to move forward without the girl they all loved so much.

This morning should have been the happiest day of Samantha’s life.  She was a popular cheerleader, was valedictorian of her class and had been accepted by two of the top Ivy League colleges in the country.   Instead of spending time at the stylist getting the perfect hair style and practicing her speech, she was lying in a casket at the local cemetery while her parents, family, and friends prepared for her funeral.

The shock of Samantha’s death rocked the very core of the small coastal town in the Deep South.  No one could possibly comprehend that this girl, who was so full of potential and life, was now dead.   Samantha was one of those people who everyone loved and adored.  She was president of her senior class and had a large group of friends.  She’s always been a leader and had a bright future in front of her, which makes it all the more difficult for anyone to understand the choices she made just two days before.

Samantha had recently started dating a boy that she’d met one Friday night after a football game against a rival school.  He seemed like a great guy and her family was more than happy to see her start dating again after a nasty break up with her long-time boyfriend Jonathan.   Her girlfriends couldn’t help but feel a little resentment, because Tobias seemed to be monopolizing her time and Samantha rarely had time for them anymore.  She was always rushing off to this party or that party, all with Tobias and his friends.

Two nights ago, she had been extremely excited about the graduation party that Tobias and his friends were throwing in her honor.   She couldn’t believe that Tobias would go to such lengths to give her a party, but his parents were out of town and he was inviting everyone over for a BBQ and pool party.   When Samantha’s friends called her mother to tell them about the party, she dismissed it as jealousy because they weren’t invited, and didn’t worry because she trusted her daughter and knew she’d never jeopardize her future.

According to police, sometime that evening, one of Tobias’ friends arrived with Crystal Meth and they all began smoking it.  Samantha had never tried drugs of any type, but according to one of the witnesses, after saying no several times, she finally caved when Tobias made a comment about her embarrassing him for being so lame.   About a half hour later, she was seen smoking Crystal Meth yet again, and according to reports, around five minutes later someone yelled that there was someone floating in the pool.