Hey guys my name is Henry Barragan and I’m kid from east Dallas, close to where Dallas becomes Mesquite. My parents are divorced and have 3 brothers. I didn’t really live in that bad of a neighborhood, but in a place that had a bad reputation. So when I tell people that I graduated from Bryan Adams High school, I would get one of either two responses. “Never heard of it”, or “How did you survive that school?” I usually get the ladder. Well if you can guess, it’s because people know that a lot of the kids in the school use drugs, more notably, marijuana.
I honestly never used marijuana in my life. Mainly because of all the anti-drug propaganda I’ve seen on TV in my early years and having almost all of my life being told that if I used drugs, I would be disowned by my family and god. So throughout middle school I would be scared from all the high school stories that most people usually heard in their life. Stuff like, “If you didn’t do marijuana, you weren’t a cool kid”, or “If you did marijuana, then you would go straight to prison” It may seem silly nowadays to listen to what other little kids say but back then this confused the hell out of me to the point I develop anxiety. It hit me pretty hard because at the time my parents were fighting over custody over me and my siblings so I was already heartbroken as it was at the time. So adding the confusion of these pot stories wasn’t helping. I know it wasn’t the worst situation someone could be in but I was pretty mentally exhausting for a child.
However to my surprise, when I got to high school it wasn’t as tainted with drugs as I thought it was. I’m not goanna lie; I did come across situations where I’ve seen marijuana being used and even being offered to me, but the good thing is that it was only a couple of times. I always pondered why I wasn’t exposed to dear old “Marry Jane” as much as I thought. Then I came across several articles reporting that many celebrities confess using marijuana in their daily lives, there was even an article saying that marijuana use was becoming “Mainstream”. The plant was a main topic of jokes, shows, and even the reason why people come up with great ideas…..sometimes
So the more and more I kept researching on the topic of marijuana, the more fascinated I became. Not to the point of deciding to use the plant, but just to the point I understand why people want it legalized. Even here at our school, there has been research showing that the drugs popularity is in a decline. http://news.utexas.edu/2015/07/13/marijuana-use-is-down-disapproval-is-up-among-young-teens
Overall, my opinion has drastically changed however without sounding too contradicting; I still wouldn’t see myself using it anytime soon. Not because of the reason mentioned earlier, I just don’t want to use it plain and simple. I think pot has a lot more well use then people lead on. Hell if people want weed to be legalized, then let them. Let them be them, and you do you.
I agree with your point at the very end “let them be them, and you do you.” Everyone can believe what they want to believe about legalizing marijuana. A great point you made is even if marijuana is legalized people make the choice of using it or not. How you said, you wouldn’t see yourself doing it. So it all depends on the person.
I can relate to your story, because I also experienced situations where I’ve been offered weed and decline it and being scared straight by what the media and my parents would say about marijuana. Letting people smoke it if they want is something I completely agree with, it’s their life after all. Great read!
I can relate to what you are saying about being cool. I to also have heard multiple story about smoking marijuana and how it is part of being cool in high school or in any level school generally. They are something you can’t avoid hearing or over hearing between kids who has what it take to be cool. This might make you feel left out, but it wouldn’t really affect you if your will is strong enough.
Hey Henry I went to Skyline, so I definitely know where B.A. is. I agree with you about being basically scared out of my mind to even think about marijuana. The scare tactics definitely worked. When I got to high school it was rarer to find someone who didn’t smoke, than ones who did. I don’t know about you, but there was a sort of disdain that I received from my peers because I didn’t engage in marijuana. I really liked that you intertwined your experiences with marijuana into the post making it a very interesting read.
This was a really interesting read! I can relate with going to a school where marijuana was literally everywhere. And I would have to agree that it has been materialized to be a trend that everybody does because “why not?” They usually did it because they were bored. It is true that even if marijuana is legalized for recreational use or not, it is still going to be used no matter what.
I really enjoyed your blog post. When you mentioned how marijuana was being advocated to you at such a young age, it reminded me of my days in school as well. It can get confusing on what’s cool and what’s right. Still to this day, some kids are very mislead on what makes them “cool”. Anyway, I think you did a great job and I liked how you put yourself out there. Great sources as well.
I can relate since a lot of the kids at my school used or sold marijuana. Some came to school high and others smoked while at school. I agree that marijuana has gained so much attention due to the media. Celebrities are taking pictures smoking, rapping about smoking, and etc. As you mentioned in your blog post, marijuana isn’t all bad it does has its benefits and whether it is legalized or not, people will continue to use it.