"Drug's Aren't Real" - Innocent or just Retarded?

[MsLovelyGothDruggy]

I wasn't quite sure where this belonged and, after looking at many of the categories, I figured it'd fit in the "Drugs Culture" area.

My question is kind of retarded, but it's something I'm really curious about.

First, a little background info:

When I was young, I grew up in a pretty indecent neighborhood that wasn't very kid friendly. There was a lot of issues with shootings, fights, break-ins, and drug-dealing. I, however, was completely oblivious to it all as I was extremely sheltered; not allowed to go outside, watch TV, play video games, use a computer, etc. I was raised by a single mom who was paranoid of the world and also wasn't ready to have kids (very common these days, I know). I was allowed to read children's books, do homework, clean, and keep my younger sister entertained.

Somewhere around 12 years old, I went to a relative's house. A friend/cousin was there, who was about 16 or 17 at the time, and he used to always go outside and come back giggling for no reason. I eventually ended up following him out to see what was so funny all the time and come to find him outside smoking weed in a little metal pipe. I'm hanging out close to him, asking him about what he has. He laughs and blows smoke in my face. My relative immediately came out looking for me and found me. I asked her what my cousin was smoking and she said it was just a special kind of tobacco that people sometimes smoke in their pipes.

Go inside the house. Start feeling giggle a little, but not really by much. More of just a strange silliness.

Didn't think anything of it.

After living in this neighborhood for about 8 years, we relocated to a better area.

A year after moving (last year in middle school), I'm spending the night at a friend's house. She has another friend over who snorts all kinds of pills and smokes weed. I'm confused about what she's doing. All I comprehend is my friend's female friend crushing and snorting "medicine" and enjoying herself.

I ask about it. They tell me about what the pills do, what kind they are, and about weed. They ask if I want to try some. I said yes. I snort half a pill of a Hydrocodone (as I found out almost years later) and smoke several hits of weed, knowing nothing about what is going to happen to me. The entire night, all I did was laugh until I passed out. Woke up. Hardly remember much of anything except for laughing. Nothing bad happened. End of story.

A year later, I start High School. The entire time for the first half of the year, I'm completely oblivious to the different things going on everywhere from the kids smoking weed in the parking lot to girls in the bathroom smoking meth or snorting coke or crushed up pills. I don't know how, but I took absolutely no real notice of any of it. I saw it, but I thought it was just cigarettes or sugar or something, never thought about it.

Eventually, I finally ask the girls (as I see them) what they are/were doing. Most of them don't tell me. One does and tells me it's Xanax. I had no idea what Xanax was.

Now then, prior to this, I had 2 "Anti-Drug" classes, one in elementary school and one in middle school. My mom talked to me a little about drugs but, after finding out a lot of what she was telling me wasn't always the truth, I never paid attention.

Either way, when I saw all this going on, I was extremely confused as to why anyone would "snort sugar" and do the things they were doing...

Why?

Because...
Majority of my life, up until when I tried doing pills again in the second half of my freshman year in high school, and even after that, I thought drugs were simply not real.

I don't know exactly how, but I never really thought drugs were real. I knew there were certain things out there that made you feel good, like weed and alcohol, but I didn't know what drugs did, what they were for, or that any of them even really existed. The few things I was told about and kinda believed, I believed what they said about them. Example: I was told about Cocaine by my mom, but I was also told that it burns a hole through your nose like acid and that chunks of your nose will fall out and that it will fry your brain and usually kills you just after one use because it's poison.

I was told this a few times with the usual "drug" talk that I got, just the last time I was spoken to I actually listened to and kinda believed her.

I really didn't know much at all until way later, towards the end my Junior year, when someone I knew broke the bubble and told me about all the different things they'd tried. I didn't believe much about what they were talking about and carried on with my life.

Eventually, as I was able to get to watch movies and TV, I started noticing drug use in all these shows and movies. It eventually dawned on me and then I knew that there was more to the drug world than I thought.

This kinda did some good and some bad for me, but past is the past.

Point is I was 17 years old, going on 18, and just then getting the "hint" that drugs were real, which I still didn't officially grasp until right after I turned 18 and tried MDMA for the first time without really knowing what it was.




So yeah....

Does growing up thinking that drugs are not real for so long make me really innocent and oblivious as a kid or does it make me seem like a complete dumb-f**k of a kid?

 

[SDforever420]

I would say being sheltered made you oblivious to the fact that drugs are EVERYWHERE. It doesn't make you sounds dumb at all. It actually makes sense. I was completely oblivious that my dad smoked weed until I was 16. Then I just started noticing all the signs.

At this point, it's all up to you to make yourself aware that drugs do in fact exist. Educate yourself. Don't buy into mainstream media's lies about drugs. This site is the best to to educate yourself about drugs and harm reduction from drugs.

Are you curious on trying drugs? Or just interested in them?

 

[blight12]

When i didnt do drugs they where mythical evil things other evil people did, people who strangled kittens and sold their children into slavery (thanks to drug propaganda). I never noticed it anywhere around me.

When i started doing drugs, especially coke, the strangest thing noticed all the time was how somehow you would gravitate to others who did it or would know when its around without any real explanation for this weird 6th sense type effect. And i mean in terms of total strangers and no actual clues or hints that can be explained as the reason.

For example we would often run into situations such as going to a bar for a chilled or innocent drink and sitting next to a total stranger, often somebody way out of your social norm, like for example us early 20's youngsters compared to some 50yo guy.

Somehow if they also did coke it would just be known by both of you unconsciously through some sort of magic or telepathy and you would easily get onto the topic, discuss, share, buy, do etc. all of a sudden as if it was completely natural, like going from awkward "some random dood sitting next to you at the bar" conversation or polite small talk into coke territory as if you knew each other for years.

This happened often and i cant explain it. There where also no signs, no conscious logical conclusions, just a sudden knowing and understanding between two total strangers.

After starting coke i then suddenly realized and noticed it everywhere, that so many people where doing it, i could just tell somehow and i was never wrong.

No jokes, this was a strange thing we noticed for real. I used to think of myself as a Coke Whisperer lol but apparently it might be more common with others then i thought?

Its like a new hidden world around you is revealed through some new perception you have gained and you wonder how you never saw it until now.

 

[llama112]

When I was growing up, I didn't know what drugs were either. I knew that weed and alcohol existed. I didn't believe any of the other stuff really existed. I grew up in the middle of no where. I know there was weed at my high school (it was a good high school, not sketchy or anything) because I remember someone getting suspended for having weed at school. It wasn't until most of my way through college that I started learning about drugs and what they really were. I remember thinking weed was like the worst thing in the world (I laugh about that now). I was once watching TV with my boyfriend, when we started dating, and there was an anti-drug thing on TV. My bf got upset with it because it showed someone smoking weed and then all of a sudden they were useless and kicked out of school and miserable and stuff. It was one of those "what drugs can do to you" type things. I was confused, I was like of course that's what happens! And slowly he started explaining to me more about drugs. I can't believe that I didn't know a thing about drugs until I was 19 besides "drugs will kill you".

I was kinda sheltered too, until my bf taught me about them, and then I did some more research. It really depends how you grow up and stuff.

Now like 90% of my friends use drugs. Even my coworkers know about drugs. It's crazy how much they are out there, but I was completely oblivious before. I remember one of the first parties I went to, I was going to do MDMA at the party, and I was so worried that someone would notice I was high or something. Now I realize that there are TONS of people on drugs at parties. And the people who aren't on drugs know that others are on drugs. Hahah.