Youths Can Raise Funds, Fight Drug Abuse Through Education

Let’s say that you are facing the challenge of selecting a project for yourself or your scout group or boys’ or girls’ club and you need a topic to work on. Perhaps you want to earn a Scout Badge for yourself or want to pick a topic upon which you and your club can work, have fun with, and also add money to fatten your treasury, enabling your friends to start on other future projects.

Give serious consideration to working on distributing anti-drug information that is FACTUAL and TRUTHFUL. You can provide printed literature that answers the myths and falsities associated with the drug-culture scene. You’ve heard (and your friends) that a “little marijuana won’t hurt you.” Wrong. You’ve heard that “any after-effects of drug use is only temporary. The effects of the drug in question will pass shortly and your life will go back to normal after the “trip.” Wrong. You’ve heard that “drugs do not affect your mind, only your body, or vice versa.” Wrong.

In fact, their effects stay with you all your life. Street drugs stay in your body and affect your mind for your entire life–unless treated. That’s only one of the many facts that you can impart to friends and others to whom you distribute printed literature to as part of your project.

How much damage are drugs doing to our school, our community, our state, and our nation right now and in the past?

The answer is “lots.” Consider that well over 200 million people world-wide consume illegal drugs and that as far back as 2003, surveys showed that more than 19 million U.S. children age 12 and older were users within a month of the survey. That’s more than 8% of the population. During that same year, more than 119 million Americans age 12 and older were current drinkers of alcohol (alcohol is a drug, too). Fifty-five million of those participated in “binge drinking” at least once in the 30 days prior to the survey.

Additionally, alcohol-related vehicle crashes were the second-most cause of teen deaths in the U.S. Moreover, when teens and others get involved in a “party scene,” they are often tempted into mixing drinks with various other drugs, such as pot, cocaine, heroine, or meth (fill in the blank, it doesn’t matter what it’s called), the results can be disastrous. It can lead to physical and mental breakdowns and even death. It happens all the time. The FACTS are that even one use of drugs, under the right conditions, can kill. That fact alone, puts the ki-bosh on the statement that “go ahead. Try it. It won’t hurt you.”

Overdosing is a serious problem–don’t let anyone talk you into the use of street drugs. Eventually, you or your friends will overdose. Consider that getting to a hospital in time may be the only thing that will keep you alive. Imagine overdosing when the handful of people around you are already “stoned.” Big help they’ll be. You’ll find out how many friends you really have when they all scatter for fear of being found out.

Consider the nearly daily headlines you see on stories of how the drug lords are taking over even such governments as Mexico and Colombia. Recent stories have related how the gangs are killing innocent families who, unfortunately, have someone who has been in a gang and suddenly he is in trouble. Imagine seeing the horror of seeing your loved one killed right before your eyes or seeing dead bodies hung from bridges so all can see what happens to those who turn on the drug world. I hate to be graphic, but the world of the drug culture is gruesome and involves murder, suicide, and other crimes.

As one person wishing to do something about drugs, you can start a project in which the Truth About Drugs is distributed. The basis of any effort to create change is EDUCATION. And you can be an agent of change. You and your friends can hand out the real truth about drugs right in your own world–and you can grow some money doing it.

There are many programs that you can start, including class sessions about how to avoid drugs, how to stand up to the dark influences of the drug sellers, and what to tell them when they approach you. You can also expand the school project beyond one class and include the entire school or community. There are many people who will help you.

Join the war against drugs NOW. The battlefield needs you as a soldier whether you are a student or an adult. It is your problem. It’s not just the other guy’s problem.