“Just say no,” the famous anti-drug phrase is still the message kids are getting in school but now there’s an even bigger warning.
“It was really gross and I didn’t realize that people could really get that physically affected by drugs and it was disgusting,” says Lane Brittin-Howieson.
For these grade 9 students, the harsh realities of drug addiction are almost unbelievable.
“Definitely seeing all the pictures of all the people who have become addicted with all of the cuts on their faces and everything because you can see how addictive everything gets and yeah it’s scary to think that could happen to someone you know,” says Erica Lake.
York Regional Police are teaching students that using any drugs can be very dangerous.
“Marijuana is the starting drug that’s what seems to be out there. And that’s the drug that draws a large number of kids initially but what happens is that we get into the synthetic drugs and you know the methamphetamines and things like that become much more serious and draw you into a life of crime,” says Inspector Russ Bellman.
Police say that life of crime often starts with peer pressure and the desire to belong that’s all too common in high school.
“I hear a lot about it at parties were everyone is doing the drugs, and you don’t want to be the person who doesn’t do the drugs if you are trying to be cool,” added Brittin-Howieson.
“They don’t want to be different, that’s the big thing. So if I’m at a party and they see a friend of theirs drinking or perhaps doing other drugs then they’re going to feel more comfortable and then they’re also going to want to do it because they’re going want to fit in,” says teacher Carolyn Cyarto-Rogers. “We hear kids talk about the parties that they’ve been to what they saw happen on the weekend. Unfortunately marijuana is the number one drug of choice these days.”
Police say getting a hold of drugs, even when your underage, is easy to do.
“They can easily go online and order these drugs and have them shipped over, they get them sent through the mail and then they go pick them up wherever. Or it’s sent to their house and they are very easy and very inexpensive for the kids,” says Constable Phil Houghton with York Regional Police.
But trying drugs is only part of the problem. Police say they’re worried about how many kids are selling drugs.
“Kids who want to make a living they see this from pop culture life or music videos and it’s glamourized and then they get to the high school. So if you’re a grade 12 student and you see grade 9’s coming in that could be influence to them could be a marketing aspect for them to make money,” added Const. Houghton.
“The big picture is drug trafficking where organized crime is involved, the grow operations, it’s a big business and that’s a criminal organization that filters down into the kids,” says Insp. Bellman
What are high school kids selling? Marijuana, synthetic drugs, prescription pills and harder drugs like crystal meth and cocaine. And it’s not just a couple of dealers in a school; it’s all kinds of kids selling to their friends.
“There is more of a persona based around it. That seems to come from music videos where kids see it and it’s glamorized but there seems to be more glamorization results, more in kids know more about it and more kids getting involved,” says Const. Houghton.
Police say it isn’t a big step from selling weed to much bigger problems.
“Eventually if they get trapped into that drug world then they become victims of crime, they become criminals, they commit crimes to further their drug habits,” add Insp. Bellman
In Part 4 of The High Life, Katherine Ward will head to Collingwood for the story of a woman who followed the downward spiral because of drugs before finding her way again.
