MILEY'S OUTRAGEOUS ANTICS CLEARLY A CRY FOR HELP

Ever heard of the drug Salvia?

Salvia is an old natural herb that the Mazatecs from Mexico used to
use for shamanic visions. Nowadays it is considered to be a
hallucinogenic drug much like LSD. There's one difference, though:
salvia is legal in many countries across the world.

Last week the Celebrity gossip website TMZ released a video of teen
pop sensation Miley Cyrus smoking from a bong. Soon after the video
surfaced, Miley's manager assured everyone that she was not smoking
marijuana, another popular drug amongst young adults, but rather, she
was smoking salvia, which, they clarified, is legal in the state of
California.

Personally, I think this is a cry for help. Clearly, Miley has been
trying her best over the past year to shed her Disney and Hannah
Montana past and start fresh as an adult actress and musician. To do
this, Miley has decided to wear less clothing, make scandalous music
videos, and, now, film herself smoking salvia.

First, I'll touch on the clothing that Miley Cyrus has chosen to sport
and her scandalous music videos. Earlier this year Miley released her
single 'Can't Be Tamed.' Soon thereafter, she released her music video
for it. The video is packed full with Miley wearing the least amount
of clothes possible and comparing herself to a wild bird, saying that
she 'can't be tamed.' Throughout the video you can see Miley rubbing
up against other girls and almost kissing them.

I'm definitely not one to judge, and I'm certainly not anti-gay, but
for a girl who has prided herself in her faith and is very much seen
as a goody-goody since her start as Hannah Montana at the age of 11,
for her to be nearly kissing another girl is definitely a big deal.

As for the issue involving salvia, Miley, as with any other product
she has (knowingly or unknowingly) promoted, the sale of the drug has
increased since the release of the video. This, to me, is sad. If an
18-year-old girl can manage to increase the sale of a drug then,
really, where do people stop? Will we kill ourselves over something as
silly as following in a celebrity's footsteps? If Lindsay Lohan gets
drunk and crashes her car, are we all going to do it? If Demi Lovato,
another former Disney star, is caught with cut scars on her wrist,
will we all follow her lead? If Miley Cyrus is spotted smoking a drug
from a bong, are we seriously going to increase the sale of said drug?

I know that we're obviously not all going to run out to get our hands
on the substance after seeing the video, but there are a lot of
curious people out there.

Clearly, this is all a cry for help. I get that it's hard to get
yourself out of a Disney contract, but Hilary Duff and Raven Symone
managed to do it without undressing themselves and doing drugs, so why
can't Miley? Yeah, her parents announced their divorce just a few
weeks ago, but, hey, my parents announced their separation to me a
year ago, and I definitely haven't started doing drugs and neither
have a lot of other kids.

This girl needs help, and of course, publicity is making it impossible
because we're all just attacking her through TV, newspapers and online
(and that includes myself, I guess).

Hannah Isabelle Agnew is a Grade 10 student at Moncton High School.