Thursday, November 20, 2014

1st Place Red Ribbon Week Essay - Why I would choose not to be under the influence of Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco - By Hannah Charbonneau

Try to imagine a life where you can’t live without drugs and are so addicted you can’t stop.  I have always wanted to be healthy and wanted to be active and to be fit my whole life.  Sometimes I wonder to myself what it would be like for those people that can’t breathe, can’t talk and have to constantly be in and out of the hospital. 

As a child I made a promise to myself, to my family, and to the people that count on me, to never even think about starting drugs, alcohol and tobacco at all.  While growing up I have had the best friends that a girl could ever ask for in my life and could never imagine drugs taking control of them.  If I could make one promise in my life that would be to be DRUG FREE.

People might ask, “I wonder what a glass of wine or one cigarette would taste like?”  This is what I say to that, “Why”?  People think “Oh, trying it once won’t hurt anything,” but they’re wrong.  Trying it once can change your life forever. 

If I could change one thing, it would be to make all drugs, alcohol and tobacco forbidden.  If you think about the people that are so addicted to drugs that they would do anything to get their hands on just one cigarette or just one bottle of beer.  How would they be able to live life, have a good career, or be a good role model to their kids?  I would think it would be very difficult if they let drugs take control of them.  To me, all I can say is, “Why did you start in the first place?”  Most of them would probably just say, “I didn’t think trying it one time could ruin my life forever”. 

I don’t base my life on what the future brings or what it holds.  What I know is that those promises that I have made will last all my life.  I know one thing that will not change, and it’s my promise that no matter what, I pledge to be DRUG FREE forever.  This is my story of why I don’t want to be under the influence of drugs, alcohol or tobacco.

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