This Is Your Life on Drugs
Name ______Class______Date______
This is Your Life on Drugs
1)Your job is to identify and write down three goals you have for your future.
Example:
Dear Friends:
Hello, my name is ______. I am in 8th grade and I have three goals for my future. I really want to graduate from high school with honors. It is something I have been preparing for, for quite a while. I study hard, sometimes even passing up on an opportunity to go out with friends just to make sure I am always ready for a test or quiz. I always strive to have my homework complete the day before its dues rather than wait until the morning it is due. My grades in middle school have been all A’s and B’s and I am on the right path to achieving my goal of graduating with honors.
My second is to get into a really good college. This is one of the reasons I wanted to finish high school with honors! Having such a distinction gives a person a better opportunity to get into a better college, possibly with a scholarship. I am very involved in clubs around school and have a wide array of interests. Ultimately I would love to go to Harvard or Princeton, you know, one of those Ivy League Schools.
Finally, I would like to become a professional BMX rider. I know what you might be thinking, a Harvard Grad riding bikes for a living! HA! Why not? I have been riding a BMX bike since I was three. I still remember the day my dad took the training wheels off. Since then, I have become aavid rider and competed in a number of different competitions, earning both a 1st and second place finish! I think that with the combination of being a professional BMX rider and a graduate from a prestigious school, I could encourage other kids to work hard to achieve their dreams!
Well that’s about it! I am so excited to see where I will end up. How about you? I guess only time will tell. See you in 15-20 years!
Sincerely,
2)After receiving a card that identifies a drug classification, write a letter or conversation piece of what it would be like if you returned to your same group of friends fifteen to twenty years later. Your letter or conversation piece needs to include the following information:
- Drug Class
- Example within that drug class
- Why/how they choose to use
- How their use affected their goals
- What your new goals are for the future
Drug Classification: Narcotics
Letter in the Future:
Dear Friends:
I was a BMX riderfor most of my teens. A fellow BMX rider tore up the ligaments in his knee in an accident, and was given prescription opiates for the pain. He had reconstructive surgery on that knee and stayed on the opiates while it healed. After it was better, he kept taking the pills. He just knew he felt good when he took them. He didn’t know they were addictive.
I was going through a rough patch with my riding. My friend who was now addicted to the prescription opiates offered some pills stating it would make me feel better. At first, I knew it was not a good idea,but as the rough patch continued and my friend continued to offer the pills, I figured just this one time. I was sixteen years old when I took my first pill. I suddenly didn’t feel bad anymore, so I continue to use. This lead to an addiction to prescription opiates. The habit got so expensive but I was so addicted, I had to get high. I started using heroin because it was cheaper than the pills. The drugs started to control my life.
My coach came to me and offered help but I refused and ended up being removed from my team and losing the chance at becoming a professional BMX rider. I also did not make it to school most days. I lost the chance to graduate let alone with honors. The school contacted my parents and together they got me to my first rehab. It was a three month program that I didn’t finish. I left and for the next two years heroin controlled my life. Heroin was my only concern. I needed the heroin to feel good.
Then it happened, I awoke in a hospital bed and I wasn’t sure how I got there. When I awoke my parents were staring at me with sadness and disappointment in their eyes. The story of my overdose was told and I am thankful that I didn’t lose my life like so many others. My parents spent a lot of money to do it but they got me to the best rehab facility around. I knew it was my only option. I had no money, no high school diploma, and no place to live. Rehab was the only place I had to turn. My friends left me and my parents would only help if I agreed to rehab. Thankfully, I went and learned to live a sober life.
Because I started using heavy drugs so early, I never had a chance to develop maturity or life skills. Now, here I am in my early twenties when all my old friends are graduating college, starting their careers, getting marrying and having children trying to get my life together. It is great though, to have a natural happy feeling that I haven’t felt for so long. I am working on my GED and looking at colleges that I can attend at night since I need to work during the day. My goal is to eventually have a career where I help others through the recovery process.
When I am not working I spend most of my time in meetings or with my friends from those support groups. I have to thank all my counselors in rehab and my fellow addicts in various Narcotics Anonymous support groups who have helped me get to the point of where I am today. Nar-Anon was also very helpful to my parents as they experience the hurt and disappointment of my drug use. I feel good and believe that I am on the right path. However, I do realize that everyday going forward will be a struggle not to use. I consider myself one of the luckily ones as I did not lose my life to an overdose. I have also been tested for HIV because of my heroin use and I am happy to report that I am 100% healthy.
Rubric:
Achievement:
Information in assignment is accurate ______/40=
Accountability:
All directions were followed______/40
Assignment is neat and legible ______/10
Assignment was completed on time______/20
Total ______/70=