Drugs

As I got older as a GP I found more and more young people were suffering problems caused by taking drugs [illicit ones I mean, often obtainable at school] All the different drugs that young people take are different from each other with different side effects and consequences. Kids who take drugs visit their doctor much more often than kids who don’t take drugs but often the actual complaint from the kid would apparently be nothing to do with drugs, perhaps they did not feel very well. Often they looked upon their drug taking as normal and fairly harmless even though the grades they were getting at school would be sliding down the scale and their parents were becoming very worried for them.

It was difficult to give the kid a good reason to give up the habit that they recognised as valid. Telling them that the habit would shorten their life, make them fail their exams and mess up their brains and relationships did not seem to cut much ice. Many drugs are demotivating and very harmful to fulfil ambition or potential. [Not true for nicotine or caffeine but nicotine has a host of harmful effects, caffeine less so, fortunately for us coffee drinkers]
One idea that did seem to wake them up a bit, and not used at drug clinics was this; “Sooner or later you will be in work and be responsible for others, like I am in work at this minute. How would you feel if I stared at you with glazed eyes and just suggested that you should chill out and don’t worry, taking no notice of what you said or what you were worried about?
If you work hard, for years, to get a skill so you can earn your own living it gives you a feeling of satisfaction. What if you can get that same degree of satisfaction from taking a ‘recreational’ drug? Where will that leave you, where will it leave society? Have a nice day!"