Scholarship winner
What Drives People To Try Drugs
?
ABUSE Magazine wants to congratulate Kadie Ellner , a senior at Red Bud High School in Red Bud , Illinois . ABUSE Magazine and our staff wants to congratulate her for winning the ABUSE Scholarship and we encourage her to pursuit her academic goals . We also would like to encourage future seniors to participate in our essay contest .
Drug abuse is most common among young adults who are eighteen to twenty-five years old . I always wonder what drives people to try drugs or even turn to a lifestyle of drug abuse . To be honest though , I do not think it is something that I will ever be able to comprehend . What I do know is that the drug scene and that type of lifestyle is not for me .
In 2008 , I went through a time in my life where I had to make a decision to change my family and my life forever or leave it be . My parents were involved with the drug marijuana , also known as “ mary jane ” or “ grass ”. I had grown up around it for far too long , I decided , that I was not going to let my younger sisters go through the same situation . One day during seventh grade I asked to talk to a teacher about something that was going on at home . I finally pushed myself to tell somebody about my parents ’ drug use . After endless talks with the cops and my teachers something was finally going to change .
As soon as my little sister , in fourth grade at the time , stepped foot off the bus the cops were at my house . When my sister and I had reached the house , I knew what I had done was not going to end well . My sister kept asking me where our mommy was . My heart was breaking . Why did I do this ? When I walked in , my house was a wreck from cops searching it . An officer told me that my grandmother was on her way to come get my sister and me . Seeing my mom handcuffed in the back of a police car is an image that will be burned in my mind forever . My dad was on his way home from work , so they had not talked to him yet . I did not see my parents for the next two days . Those were two of the longest days of my entire life . I felt as though my whole world was crashing down on me . I had made one of the biggest mistakes . My parents were not there , but my sisters were . Together we were a team . I knew I had to be strong not only for myself , but for them . That alone was enough to keep me from breaking down .
I could not tell you how I felt after basically being the primary reason my parents were in jail , and the unhappiness of the family . I never wanted the things that happened with my parents to ever happen the way it had . All I ever wanted was for the drugs to not be a part of our lives . I just wanted my
sisters to have a better life than I was ever given the chance to have .
This experience , at the time , was horrible and I always felt as though it was my fault that my parents were so unhappy and that people looked at them differently . Going through everything I did in 2008 has motivated me to not involve myself with drugs or put anyone that I am close to through it either . It is not worth loosing almost all you have and making people disappointed in you .
I can without a doubt say that I have gained a lot from this experience . I have learned that even though someone has made poor choices , it does not make them a bad person . If anything it makes them a stronger person considering they have gone through so much and can still manage to move forward with their life . I have learned that things have to get really bad before they start to get better .
Even if at the time I thought it was a horrible decision , now J am glad I made it . My family is a whole again . I gained some and I lost some . That is life though is it not ? One of the greatest things I learned from this experience is that with every action you make there are consequences that could make or break you .
Kadie Ellner Red Bud High School , Illinois
4 | Illinois Spring / Summer 2013 | abusemagazine . org