YOUTHS SHOULD HEAR FROM THOSE WHO'VE BEEN THERE

Editor's note: Emily, 19, used heroin for more than a year before
entering a rehabilitation program. She says she has been clean since
March, attends a 12- step recovery program daily, works as a
telemarketer and attends cosmetology school. Emily, who graduated from
Richland High School in North Richland Hills, is keeping a diary for
the Star-Telegram of her thoughts about addiction and her continuing
struggle to break free of the drug. This installment focuses on what
can be done to improve drug education programs for children and young
adults. [end editor's note]

In elementary school, we had Drug Abuse Resistance Education police
officers come to our class and talk to us. All I remember them saying
was, "Don't do drugs. They are bad for you." I remember one time we
wore D.A.R.E. T-shirts, and we rehearsed a song that had to do with
keeping kids off drugs. We sang it for all the parents and anybody
else that came. Of course, at that age, I always said I'd never do
drugs.

We never heard from people who were addicts, or had experience with
drugs. I did not hear about the effects of drugs on your body and how
you can overdose. If they did mention it, I don't remember it. But I
know for sure they didn't stress it enough.

So when drugs were put in front of me, I didn't think anything of it.
When I was in middle school, we listened to a few drug awareness
speakers. They were much older than us and never really did drugs. Or
they did do drugs, but we couldn't relate to them because they were so
much older. And we didn't believe them or didn't care. We felt like
they were preaching to us and maybe they were making it up.

I asked an acquaintance in high school what kind of education he
received on drug use. He said they have probably had one volunteer who
has come to his school in the past year. And the students just blow it
off. The kids don't care. D.A.R.E. officers come in a little more
often. He told me that I should come up there to the school. He thinks
that I would get the students' attention and get through to them.

I strongly feel that kids and teen-agers need to hear from people
their own age -- people who have been there and done that. They could
go on field trips to a rehabilitation center and hear stories from
people in there about how they got into rehab and what it was like on
the streets. If someone their own age came in to speak with them, that
would get their attention and maybe they would be more likely to
listen and be more comfortable asking questions.

In my opinion, we can do anything to try to prevent kids and young
adults from using drugs, but the bottom line is: If they want to use
drugs, they will. The whole reason that I think they need to hear from
people that have been through it all is, if they decide to use drugs,
they will know what to look for and hopefully see if their life is
starting to get unmanageable. And they will know about 12-step
programs and rehabilitation centers that are available.

It frustrates me to see these young adults dying left and right. And
here I sit clean and sober just watching. I know I can't save anybody
unless they want help. But maybe that one talk with young adults could
save some lives.

If you don't go into detail about drug use, teen-agers won't
understand that drug addiction and overdoses could happen to them.
They think they are invincible. That is exactly what I thought.

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady