A Teenage Boy Speaks: Guilty Pleasures

Writer: Marwan Muhammed

So, you want to smoke weed and taste vodka? You want to know what it’s like to be high? All of these are called mind-free substances. What do you think it’ll be like? A relaxed body, an empty mind and feeling the weight of the world lifting off your shoulders? Well, you’re partially right. It totally depends on your mood. It’s true that it might feel like the best experience you’ve ever had, but that’s only when already in a good mood. If you are feeling down, the story changes and you’ll feel like you’re living a hell on earth. If you want to try them, you are not alone. Many teens already abuse these substances, and the few who don’t are curious to try them, including me to be honest. So, I’ll share with you guys my opinions on these substances. I’m a 16-going-on-17 teenager who lives in a community where ‘hashish’, or hash, is a normal thing. You can go right around the corner to get a fix for about 25 pounds. I got some friends who smoke it and even drink alcohol. So, let me tell you my point of view of this ever-growing problem. First of all, I’ve been a competitive athlete for the last three years. This means that if I want to keep winning I cannot smoke, drink or abuse any substance. So, you can’t imagine my curiosity about how it feels like to be drunk or high. I go to the same parties that my friends go to, but it just feels like they’re having their party enjoyment amplified ten times more than I do. It seems like they’re in another world. They laugh, they joke and have they fun, but the only difference is that it’s way more fun! Personally, I’m against substance abuse of any kind; it’s just wrong. Whether it’s because of the long or short term harms, it’s wrong. I’ve never liked the idea of being in a state where I do and say things I’m not aware of just because I’m under the effect of some substance. Add to that that it won’t actually be me, at least, not the real me. So what benefit comes back to me from using? Saying things I surely won’t say if I’m sober? People will like me, but only when I’m high, or drunk and fun? No, thank you, I’ll pass on that one. It isn’t worth it. In addition to all that, you might be in this state around a group of people who would take advantage of you while you’re not in your full mental state, or even make fun of you and boss you around. You see those videos on social media, why would you put yourself in that position? My problem isn’t with the people who use drugs and so on. It’s with the ones who do it just to seem cool and to try and get admiration for it or even try to be popular by using, and spreading that they use. All of that might get more people to use.  Remember when I said that getting high or drunk might get you into the happiest of moods? The problem with that is after a while of using, you may not be able to stand the world while you’re sober. The elevated mood due to the substance becomes normal to you, and being in the normal, sober mood becomes intolerable. You would need a fix just to feel anything, and that right there is called an addiction, my friend, and nobody wants to be an addict, right? So just stay clear of it for your own sake and take it as advice from a person who saw people abuse those substances and it came back on them with nothing but harm. I didn’t write this topic just to rant about the people who drink and smoke any kind of mind-free substance. I just wanted to correct some misunderstood things about these substances, and share my own opinions from my own point of view. So yes, I hate smoking, drinking, and everything in between because I’m not that into the idea of willingly being unconscious.