The Road Out Blog

Today I was giving drug education lectures in a continuation high school in a somewhat rural area just outside of Los Angeles. A continuation school is a school, usually out behind the football field, where some students can be sent to remove them from the main student body because of behavior problems or drug problems and sometimes to try to facilitate or accommodate their learning skills. 

What I usually find in such a school, I found here. Rampant drug use and a severe lack of factual information regarding what effects drug abuse has on young bodies and minds.

I have trouble answering this question. But it happens to be the most often asked question on my websites, blogs and every school day in classrooms from third grade through college. 

Many of the reasons drugs are taken multiply their risks. Example: cough remedies which are relatively safe when taken as directed can be extremely dangerous when abused.

The newest high out there is not some new type of pill or a variation of heroin or coke. What seems to be hitting the schools lately, at least in California, is a drug that is smoked called "Spice".

Also sometimes referred to as K2, this is a substance which mimics the effects of THC in the brain but has some really nasty added effects. 

Today, in a fine upscale neighborhood in the high desert area of Southern California, I was speaking to Junior High School students, eighth graders to be exact. After speaking for about 40 minutes on drugs in general and marijuana in particular, I asked if there were any questions.

A dozen hands went up and the first one I called on asked, "What does "X" do to you?"  I noticed that the other hands went down and the place went quite. (For 100 middle-schoolers, quite a trick.)