Life, society, and drugs is an interesting and educational
course. I have learned more this semester
than I had hoped to. As you can probably
gather from the title of the course, we learned a lot about drugs and their
effects on society and life. From
alcohol to synthetic narcotics that have just arrived on the scene, we learned
about it all. While research of drugs
and their effects played a big role in this course, we also focused a lot on
local rehabilitation clinics and meeting places for people with drug dependencies. I now know multiple places to look if I, or
someone I know is in need of some help.
Since marijuana has been a hot topic for some
time, I was glad that we were assigned to learn more about it. I wasn’t shocked to learn that some research
has been conducted and results have shown that there may be a correlation
between marijuana use and a drop in IQ.
It came up quite a few times throughout the semester that drug use
especially hinders brain growth and function in children, since their minds are
still in the developmental stages.
I feel as though marijuana should be legalized,
but distributed much like alcohol. I
believe that the drive to use drugs, for some people, drops when it becomes
readily available. Many articles I read
throughout the semester concur with this idea.
People may be less-inclined to purchase it if the government taxes it and
it sells for a higher price.
We watched a
documentary on Steve-o, the Jackass superstar
who turned to drugs and fell apart. This
assignment was extremely interesting. Steve-o
used items to get high that I had never fathomed could be a drug. I always see magazines with celebrities
looking super-human, better than normal people in every way. Watching this documentary made me realize
that we’re all human and there is a large fraction of the population that is
effected directly by drug use or abuse.
Watching the ups and downs of Steve-o’s addiction made me uneasy, but it
was definitely a learning experience and I was glad that he got the help he
needed and defeated his addiction.
Speaking of
celebrities, I enjoyed critiquing the movie Flight,
with Denzel Washington. In the film
he portrays an alcoholic pilot whose plane crashes, leading to much scrutiny by
certain government agencies. It was interesting
to see how an addiction can effect a normal person, like a pilot, and what obstacles
they must face in order to deal with their addiction and their life.
The idea
behind taking a course about life, society, and drugs is to be able to relate
it to real circumstances. Continuing the
conversation outside the classroom was a liberating and eye-opening
experience. I learned things from
friends that I did not know before. I
lived a sheltered life as a child and it’s so interesting to hear other people’s
accounts of experiences. Talking with
friends is a really great way to discuss what you have read in an article, to
gain deeper insight or have your attention drawn to an aspect that you failed
to acknowledge.
Keeping up
to date on what is going on in the world is crucial. Before taking this class, I did not find it
interesting to read the news or keep up to date on world events. This class has taught me that news does not
have to be boring. I did a research
paper on the resurgence of the drug desomorphine, which has come to be known as
krokodil. While researching this
synthesized morphine was grotesque at times, it was fascinating to see that
since the drug is such a new phenomenon, there are news stories coming to light
several times daily. This research paper
made me realize that news is really captivating.
Life,
society, and drugs is not the class I was expecting it to be. It far surpassed my expectations and I am
looking forward to putting my new-found knowledge to the test. I’m glad that I now know credible sources for
researching drug use, and websites that list places to get rehabilitation help,
if I ever need it. I can use what I have
learned throughout the semester to carry out sophisticated conversations with
friends and spread the word on topics that are both interesting and helpful.
