Ron M Loc: Kitchener Ontario Canada

At my 50th high school reunion a friend asked me, 'Why didn't we have a drug problem when we were growing up?'

I replied that I had a drug problem when I was young:

I was drug to church on Sunday morning.

I was drug to church for weddings and funerals.

I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather.

I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults.

I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke ill of the teacher or the pastor, or if I didn't put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me.

I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profanity.

I was drug out to pull weeds in mom's garden and flower beds.

I was drug to the homes of neighbors to help mow the yard, repair the clothesline, and if my mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, my dad would have drug me back to the woodshed.

Those drugs are still in my veins and they affect my behavior in everything I do, say, or think.

They are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin, and if today's children had this kind of drug problem, this world would be a better place.

God bless the parents who drugged us, and for those that didn't, I'm really sorry...

ebbote Loc: Hockley, Texas

Amen.

Nikocarol Loc: NM & FL

Amen indeed. I have a neighbor who has a 14 year old boy who is being 'drug up' He mows my lawn and when I pay him he is most appreciative...so refreshing. There are a few still out there but, unfortunately the squeaky wheels are much louder.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Groan... I don't know about you, but I grew up in the 70's. I was DRAGGED, not drug, to do most of the same things.

But *plenty* of my teenaged peers developed serious DRUG problems.

One kid took LSD and dove 20 feet off a bridge, head first, into three feet of water. That was the end of him.

Another kid got rip-roaring drunk, then drove his father's souped-up Firebird out on the Interstate at speeds approaching 165 MPH. The cops beat him up pretty badly after he resisted arrest for half an hour. He was lucky to be alive.

Another guy was stoned on pot, out playing football with friends. His ball was kicked high, and got stuck between the insulator and the arm of a high voltage power line. He climbed the pole to retrieve it, and was carbonized by 230,000 volts! A photo of his carbonized body made the front page of the local paper. It was still hanging from the wire he had grabbed.

Yet another guy was caught red handed, carrying two marijuana plants out of the woods to his car, parked on the roadside. He had planted pot in a farmer's field. The smart farmer had called the cops to report him. The cops were waiting for him behind his car, guns drawn.

Reading reports like these made me just say no...

CathyAnn Loc: Apache Junction, AZ

I say "Amen" as well.