"Get your partying phase out of your system in high school" -- good advice?

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

One thing I've always believed is that drugs are for adults. But it's easy for me to say that, though, as someone who didn't even discover drugs until adulthood. I was a a nerdy mama's boy in high school, who walked away from the senior awards ceremony with a box of plaques and not a single friend to show them to. I first smoked weed when I was 18 and in college, and have been toking like a champ ever since. I made my first foray into MDMA and psychedelics while teaching English in Taiwan when I was 23. For the longest time, I had no regrets about this. I didn't wish I'd gotten into drugs younger, for now I had the maturity to enjoy them responsibly, I'd tell myself, and didn't subject my brain to abuse while it was still growing and developing.

I've begun to wonder, though, if I'm being a bit sour grapes in saying this. Because I noticed this in college: many of those who claimed to have partied like rockstars in high school, didn't consider drinking or drug use a big deal in college, and didn't seem to do nearly as much of it. For them, this seemed to be a phase that they had 'gotten out of their system', and they were now ready to be adults and buckle down.

It also occurs to me that unlike people who partied heavily as teenagers, I don't naturally see drugs as 'something to grow out of' once I get serious with my life. Even though I don't use drugs besides marijuana with any kind of frequency, nor do I ever plan on stopping completely, unless forced to by health-related or legal circumstances. I guess I just never associated the same sorts of social attitudes and settings with drugs that most people did when I was young. I never thought of using any drug, even marijuana, as an act of youthful rebellion. When I looked to get messed up, it was either because I wanted to explore the deepest reaches of my inner world, or because I just wanted to feel good! These are still my main motivations for using.

If you have kids, would you rather they "rebel" and party hard as teenagers, or would you rather they do as I did, and wait until they're adults before trying any drugs? In terms of physical health, I think there's no arguing: the young adult body and brain are, on the average, far better equipped to handle the challenges of psychotropic drug use, than the growing bodies and brains of minors. But at the level of social development and fitting well into the larger society, I wonder if I case can be made for childhood experimentation, if only for the fact that it often gets left behind after childhood is over. I would guess any prudent attorney would argue for 'do it young and get it done', citing sealed juvenile records, and the simple fact that nothing anyone does as a teenager (save maybe rape and murder) really ever gets held against them anywhere in the adult world. It would seem that society has definitely set up drug use as something to be dabbled in as a youth and then abandoned, and that this remains the path of least resistance, for those with any desire at all to be 'normal' productive citizens.

 

[BrutalRollar]

I don't know, but at my high school everyone parties. Well the people I know,and that's like most of the school. Atleast half the school does mdma,weed,drink,etc. I bet most people miss being a teenager. I live life to the fullest, have the most fun while your young. I seen adults at high school parties trying to act like a lunatic(aka teenagers),because they never did stuff when they were younger.

 

[yucatanboy2]

Sir, i think you are somewhat correct and somewhat not... let me explain.

First of all, it really depends on what "partying" means, and also how much self-control you have over your own actions.

Highschool and college are both very important times developmentally (socially, educationaly, and career-wise), an you don't want to party way too much during either (to the point of hurting your development).

I think its ok to start drugs in high school, but you really need to keep the grades up and keep looking forward so you can get a good job or get into college, and move out, and get your own life, away from your parental supervision.

However, once in college/on your own, i think you can party too much too, and you don't want to fuck yourself up too much and drop out of college/get fired from your first good jobs for being a fuckup.

I think it'd be better advice to say: "be smart, don't party too hard, and when you do, make sure you're with friends and people you trust to take care of you. Always have your priorities straight in terms of keeping your shit together so you don't hurt your future"

I partied pretty hard my senior year of highschool (alcohol, weed, tried a few psyches, and some mdma), and continued all through college (tons of alcohol, metric fucktons of weed, psychedelics). Yet I always knew i had to keep my grades/oppotunities for advancement as a priority (i smoked and drank as a reward for finishing my daily work), and i graduated with honors and am close to getting my PhD (hopefully a few years from now i'll be a prof).

If partying is a phase for you, so be it, and get it out of your system as soon as possible. If its not a phase (as it is for me, smoking weed, drinking and taking psychedelics once in a while will probably be on my plate for a while), be sure to keep your eyes on reality in terms of your life in society, your interactions with your friends, peers, and superiors, and also in terms of the way you make a living for yourself in this world. Try to be as safe and smart as possible.

Stupid drunken idiocy is definitely reserved for highschool and college, and i definitely had retarded blacked out nights all the way up to graduation from college, but i managed to keep my shit together in the rest of my life. I still have a few of those once in a long while, but in general i try to make smart decisions, even when fucked up.

"do it young and get it done" is very subjective, and maybe should be better said "do the stupid shit young, but don't do really really stupid shit, learn to do better things, and learn to live a productive life if your are going to keep doing stupid things"

That said, hardcore addictions to drugs usually lead to significant problems in the rest of your life and probably cannot be maintained. (Hence, i stayed away from opiated, and cocaine, although i did try them in college)

Just my 0.02 dollars... slightly drunk tonight as it is St. patty's day and i am irish (damn st. patrick for tricking the happy pagan irish by telling them that the 3-leafed clover was like the father the son and the holy ghost... grrr catholicism)

What are other people's thoughts on "get your partying out of your system young"

PS i took mdma when i was 17. I had no social life, and had never kissed before. I kissed my first girl on my first roll, and really opened up socially after that. I dated my first girlfriend during my senior year of highschool. If it wasn't for MDMA, i'd be a much worse off person i think.

 

[Tiesto]

I agree with that statement to a certain extent - don't let it interfere with your plans in life. Especially the crime aspect of drugs and addiction. Don't let ur grades slip.

I used drugs like a champ when I was in high school. And I turned out pretty good. Other than being a little fucked in the head - but I was like that before drugs, so it really didn't play too much of a role.

 

[stuckinaloop]

IMO if you party heavy in HS it will only get heavier/worse in college.

i didnt drink/smoke until i was 17, now im 24 and addicted to heroin and weed. beleive me if i was doing dope in HS...i dunno id be fuckin dead now thats for sure.

 

[Tommyboy]

I took this from a similar thread I started that got closed

I know addiction is a horrible thing that pretty much everybody that is on the drug culture thread has had experience with...

When I was about 19 and getting heavier into drugs, (mostly opiates after smoking pot daily for a while) I rationalized my behavior saying that it was better to do all these drugs at a young age and then clean up my life.

Pretty much I was trying to rationalize saying that it was better to experience drugs when there were not many consequences then to get into drugs at an older age possible ruining your then marriage, job and family.

Now starting doing drugs at a younger age leaves you with a whole lot longer to have to deal with addiction if/after you get clean.
But starting drugs when your older leaves you with more to lose.
I am 23 now, and have been off opiates since this past new year, and had used about 6 times between august and new years. So I am pretty confident that I am successfully moving on with my life, leaving drugs behind. I am almost done with a benzo taper, which I was always prescribed and abused maybe twice a month, then took less at the end of the month to make em last. So my rationalization has kinda become reality...
Having said that, do you think that it is "better" to do drugs when younger, or older, and what are your experience?