SCH150
Jason Chester
DR. David S. Bimbi
9/17/08
Drugs and Behavior
Drug Autobiography
Life is a constant learning experience no matter who you are, how wise you think you
are, and how old you are. There will always be a moment that you learn something new.
Growing up as a kid in Jamaica Queens I feel you grow up a bit faster than the other kids do. I
haven’t done a national study or even on a greater scale a world study. It’s just my opinion that
due to circumstances in my neighborhood; I grew up faster than others. I mean drug dealing,
thievery, and prostitution was a normal and natural occurrence. I didn’t exactly know what they
were or that they existed I just remember witnessing different things.
My mother is the best, growing up all I would hear from her was “look out for that person
I think they’re on drugs or something.” My mom and I moved from Guyana when I was three.
My father was over here a few years before setting things up for us. I believe my mom was
overwhelmed by the big city and the varieties of people. Even though she came from the city part
of Guyana call Georgetown, It still couldn’t be compared to New York. It was a huge different
but together we learned the way of America. I’m not sure what we learned was the American
way but it was a cultural experience. Growing up in a high crime and drug area you see a lot.
Honestly I learned drugs existed before kindergarten. I didn’t know what they were or what harm
they could do, I just knew it was something that existed and people were on it. I didn’t know it
could be smoked, inhaled, or ingested. Just knew my mom said “don’t take any thing from
strangers and be careful who I talk to and what I told them because everyone was crazy and on
drugs.” I don’t remember much description of the “drugs” people seemed to be on. I just knew to
be aware of these people and to stay away from weird strangers offering me anything. Ironically
enough for me in my adolescent years while trying to find myself; my parents accused me of
being on drugs. They couldn’t cope with a teenager trying to live his life his way, and think
differently from them. They were convinced the idea of me not wanting to live as they told me to
must be the force of drug usage. My drug talk was “Don’t do that shit or you get thrown out the
house!” this coming from my hypocritical father who was an alcoholic. You live and try to be
yourself and you have to get ready because everyone is a critic and I do believe the biggest
critics are your parents.
I believe it was in third grade, I really had my first real knowledge about drugs. My mom
never stopped telling me people were on drugs, and sometimes I would hear bad jokes about
crack or cocaine. In school I remember this lady who was part of the council for youth program
at my school. She showed us pictures of drugs like marijuana and crack. She let us know that
people can offer us drugs in different forms like brownies or candy, and of course the famous
words “Just say no!” I remembered everything they said but fortunately never ever had drugs
offered to me or knew anyone personally that sold or bought drugs. Then again I was only eight.
My neighborhood was tough and crazy! I had fist fights and death threats, but luckily we didn’t
have eight year old kids doing drugs ten and eleven year olds maybe but not eight. I think my
cousin was thirteen when I first saw him smoke hashish. I snitched him out to my parents but
they just looked at each other and thought I was lying. I can honestly and truthfully say drugs
never interested me. I was into sports growing up especially wrestling and all my heroes whom I
later learned were on drugs. On television they always exclaimed be drug free, and eat right and
stay healthy. I used to get made fun of a lot for liking wrestling by my older cousins but looking
at a comparison to the people we are now. Thanks to watching sports like boxing and wrestling.
I’m more in shape now and didn’t get involved in half the things they did or and are continuing
to do. I wanted to always be in shape and stay healthy by eating right, working out extensively,
and of course not doing drugs. Other than knowing certain members of my family were on drugs
and might have been known to sell drugs. I was just a kid no one sat me down and explained
family details to me. As a matter of fact my family is like the government. When you start asking
too many questions they might deport you. I remember one night being screamed at by my
grandmother and father just because I inquired about her first marriage. I wanted to know why
my aunt and uncle didn’t look like they resembled my mother. She was very upset that a kid was
prying into her business. It was later told to me by my mother who loved to gossip, which is why
I think she told me. She enjoyed the fact of talking about my grandmother more than putting me
on the right track. She let me know that grandma remarried after a certain number of years after
being married with three kids to someone else. I guess honestly after that ordeal and many others
of dealing with not getting the whole truth or even looked at as presumptuous to even question. I
turned to best source around for me and that was the television.
Television was the most honest, interesting, and readily available source around. It was
through television I became informed about what was going in the world. I loved the television
show NY Undercover. It showed me all the sex, drugs, and violence a kid needed. A brief honest
history my father was an alcoholic who was sweet and kind when sober but miserable and
verbally abusive when drunk. I literally lived with doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. My mom and dad
who were constantly fighting and making up, didn’t have many rules for us growing up. Just do
well in school don’t hang around the neighborhood causing trouble and make sure you were in
church on Sunday. What I watched on television didn’t matter much as long as she didn’t see
nudity or hear cursing. Luckily for me my mom wasn’t always there to view what I viewed. I
enjoyed watching movies about the hero taking down the bad neighborhood drug dealers or the
cops solving murders due to drug dealing gangs. It was the eighties and early nineties I only
worried about two things passing school and girls. This isn’t that much different from my current
thoughts. I never smoked weed although most of my friends did and offered it to me. It was
every where. Nick bags, dime bags, haze what ever there was someone had it and it was
available. All my friends respected my opinion not to do it. Those that didn’t listen weren’t my
friends for much longer. By fifteen I had complete knowledge of all the harm drugs could do.
The idea of it left me freaked out and turned off from the scene. I being Mr. Nonconformist
always was one step to being the opposite. Luckily everyone around wanted to do drugs,
therefore I wanted to be clean. I wonder if everyone else had been clean if I would have been the
drug addict. I don’t think so thanks to my father alcohol or any drug in general were huge turn
offs. I wanted to be the clean cut hard working blue collar American I grew to be that I am now.
I learned it all from the television although I drank socially when I turned twenty one because
my heroes on television did occasionally drink. I later stopped at twenty three after I realized
what a sick, unsatisfying, and momentarily happy the bar and nightclub scene was. I loved
meeting lots of different women, and over the years having multiple partners. It was a great time
engaging in memorable experiences, but the end result never left me satisfied or fulfilled. I
always felt empty and lost in my heart and as well my wallet. Now I can’t even fathom the idea
of going to the club and getting drunk as the thought turns my stomach. Looking back on the
money spent and time wasted. I could have achieved lot more had I put the energy I had into a
more productive activity. Only God knows what the out come might have been. I never smoked
weed, or done anything harder than drinking lots of alcohol. I love my body and I love my life
and now I enjoy adrenaline pumping activities like skydiving, whitewater rafting, motorcycle
riding, and of course my favorite mixed martial arts fighting.
Everything I learned about drugs up until now has been pretty self explanatory. Drugs are
bad to abuse. The Drugs themselves aren’t bad but it’s what you do with it when it’s in your
possession is what could have bad outcomes. I always looked at drugs as having to be a negative
influence on today’s society. But when in class and I learned that drug laws that were passed in
the past have been based on racism surprised me. I want to be a police officer. I want to be the
person that enforces the law and stands up for the honest hard working citizens who just want to
have a nice place to live. Where they can raise their kids, and enjoy life. To find out that
congress passed laws based on racism using drugs as a way to arrest and eliminate certain
minorities I found disgusting. To think that we vote and entrust the government to make honest
fair choices so we as people could trust that their decisions will make our system run effectively,
fairly, and of course with the utmost integrity. The reality turns out to be that they are all just
klans men who wear fancy suits instead of white hoods looking for ways to pass laws to keep
people oppressed is horrible. The entire idea that people like myself, honest upright law abiding
citizens. We vote, volunteer, and donate money to charity have been let down by our governing
officials is extremely disappointing. For years I lived with anger towards drugs and the people
who used it and made a living off of it. At the same time I was having a deep love and respect for
those in power that dedicated their lives to dealing with the harshness of this horrible drug
situation that plagued every state. I was extremely surprised and embarrassed that the
government not only had racist motives with their drug laws they also favored the offenders who
happened to be rich and powerful. They had the opposite attitude for the poor person. Who being
that they lived in a certain place got caught up in the influence surrounding them, would receive
a more harsh of a punishment is very disgraceful. I feel a law should be passed because the crime
being committed is getting out of hand. The punishment then for it should always be justified in
the result of not only does it put an end to the crimes being committed, but it offers a reform for
those criminals to see the light whether the penance be time served or work enforced to teach a
lesson. A law passed should never be broken down into two stipulations. Being a one sided
attack on those who you know are more capable of breaking that law. Under one stipulation the
race more likely to infringe on that law would face more serious charges. The other race that did
the same thing but a different variation would face less. For instance the laws for people who are
found with crack are harsher for those found with cocaine (the powdered form). The
manipulation of the law to benefit others and hold down certain other communities is
heartbreaking and troubling for instance the marijuana stamp act going after the people who were
never a threat at all. If something is being done but no one is being harmed and for some reason
or another the population is working at a fully homeostatic form I see no issue with this unless
the residents of that community begin to rally together, and stand up against those that are
partaking in this activity causing a major disturbance. I would understand. But to go after people
for just being where they are in a happy state of mind is like stepping on an ants nest which
results in a hostile situation making the times difficult for everyone else more than before.
Life and learning experiences is a phenomenal thing. People often live their lives never
really questioning things. We mostly are afraid to. We live in a time where we all fear the
unknown and we just get sucked into everyone else’s ideology of how things should be. Being
that we often don’t want to think for ourselves we fall into that. It often takes a detrimental
moment in our lives that causes us to wake up and realize maybe we should become more aware.
Maybe we should look deeper into the motives, actions, and the decisions being made around us.
Drugs will forever be in our lives whether through being prescribed by the doctors or on the
street by those looking for a good time. The opportunity and the self imposed vision on how
these situations should be handled are up to us. I feel for as long as we are around a system to
educate ourselves on as many things like this should be readily available and affordable. Which
is why it took me five years to understand that College the entire institution is not a scam!, but a
means by which people like myself can become aware and change.