MERE RECREATION CAN KILL YOU

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution turned over valuable space on the
op-ed page last week to let a "recreational" drug user whine that his
addiction damages no one but himself ("Use of crack should not make
me a felon," @issue, March 28).

The AJC was wrong to publish this kind of misleading nonsense without
refutation.

The writer is just plain wrong.

Legality of banned substances should not be determined by who uses
them or why they use them. The only exception to this should be when
a substance is prescribed by a doctor.

Charles Jackson wrote that he did not understand why he, a
65-year-old "recreational" user of crack cocaine, is considered a
felon. "Possession of a gram or less of cocaine for one's own use
should not be a felony. The 'crime' does not merit it," he wrote.

I understand why Jackson believes he and other recreational users are
not intentionally hurting others and are simply feeding their own
addictions. I also share his sentiment that the U.S. government
doesn't deal with drug offenders in the most efficient way.
Nonetheless, Jackson does not seem to understand how easy it is to
hurt other people or allow an addiction to get out of control.

As a student at the University of Georgia, I often encounter people
with a nonchalant attitude toward casual drug usage. I believe that
this early, casual use is part of the reason America has such a drug
problem. People begin their habits believing they are affecting only
themselves.

I don't believe hard-drug users are ever affecting just themselves.
Like suicide, drug use can be a selfish act that in the end hurts
more people than were intended. I know people who do cocaine and
still live normal lives. But I have also seen some ruin their lives
and the lives of others.

A couple of fellow students and friends were forced to drop out of
school, go to jail and pay for expensive rehab. Parents were
involved, both emotionally and financially, and friends felt a loss,
maybe even guilt.

Luckily, I have never been personally connected to someone who has
died as a result of their drug use.

Unfortunately, many students at UGA have experienced this. The
January death of Lewis Fish, a freshman, brought hard-drug use to a
focal point for discussion on campus and in all of Georgia. Because
of "recreational" users such as Fish, use of cocaine and similar
drugs should be considered a felony.

It is not only on campus that my life has been affected by others who
use cocaine. I know someone who recently cleaned himself up after
about 15 years of addiction. He spent years trying to keep his use a secret.

It took a custody battle over his newborn child to rid him of his
addiction. Understanding his innocent child would suffer, he forced
himself to go into rehab and quit.

Many people are not able to quit. Many drug users ruin their lives
and others even though they don't intend to -- and all "recreational"
drug users should put that in their pipe and smoke it.

* New Attitudes is a weekly opinion column written by readers between
the ages of 15-22. E-mail submissions or questions to
dbeasley@ajc.com or call 404-526-7371.