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have been upbeat, about happy people and interesting places. This topic seemed somewhat alien to the more inspirational things I wanted to write about. However, one morning as I was trimming the beard growing on my 80-year-old face, I took no- tice of the scar on my forehead and eyelid and realized that I had been given a chance to redress a behavior that had caused pain to my family and friends so many years ago. I had been given the rare opportunity to engage in good karma. My hope for those young people who might find themselves in a desperate mo- ment of hurt and disorientation due to drug or alcohol abuse is that they have the good fortune to survive and enjoy a long life in a reality that enables them to facilitate their own good karma. In Part 2, we will meet people working in prevention and recov- ery who are trying to ensure that long life. Let me add it seems to me that sometimes a prayer can help as well.
Part 2 in the November 2022 issue of Newfound Lake Life.
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rior, Gustavo Sanchez, to heart, “There is no greater destabilizing force of democratic government than the power of narcotrafico.”
Our story takes us to the 21st century, to 2022, to be precise. It is 63 years since this writer, a relatively privileged youth living in a comparatively benign soci- ety, got drunk and almost died. As I indicated earlier, my great concern now is that so many young people live at a time and, in the circumstances, much more challenging and disorienting than the relatively minor chal- lenges I encountered “back in the day .” Even then, those an- noyances “contributed” to my literal “fall by the wayside .” Too many young people, including kids from the Newfound Region, make up the current grim statis- tics of alcohol and drug abuse. We have an obligation to con- sider the causes and the current challenges that motivate young people, especially adolescents, to use drugs. Here are three of them. First, the nature-driven life force of adolescence includes a necessary curiosity, a sense of immortality, and a need to de- velop autonomy. Anyone who has raised children will make no argument about that. Sec- ondly, there is the proliferation of addictive drugs and their availability. Finally, we are expe-
riencing enmity in our environ- ments, both natural and societal. Although we live in a beautiful region, nature’s hostile side has been actively disrupting the lives of young people and their fam- ilies. The other environmental issue is human-made. This is a time of evident anger and open hostility between adults and ep- isodes of bizarre, inexplicably deadly violence by too many so- ciopaths.
The details of drug prolifera- tion and environmental concerns will be explored in Part 2 of our narrative. November’s article in Newfound Lake Life will detail, as well, our region’s struggle to combat drug and alcohol abuse and include interviews with those leading the effort to control sub- stance abuse. As a preview of that
article, I now mention three of today’s most concerning “drugs” and a couple of environmental challenges. The pharma drugs like OxyContin (oxycodone, an opioid) are a concern, and there is an ambivalence among health professionals about the efficacy of their medical use. Of great concern is the activity of vaping (use of e-cigarettes) among mid- dle school children.
The presence of nicotine in the encased fluid of e-cigarettes, which turns to vapor, qualifies vaping as a “gateway” activity to further drug use. The most
potent current narcotic is fen- tanyl, a derivative of morphine. Historically, it has been used for medical purposes, and now it is synthesized in numerous illegal labs. As a result of its potency, misuse can lead to death. Many other recreational drugs and opi- oids are identified in Part 2.
There are wonderful aspects to our natural and human en- vironment. Unfortunately, the beauty to behold in nature and the marvels of human achieve- ments are apparently not as newsworthy as melting glaciers, forest fires, deadly epidemics, insurrections, school shootings, and racial enmity. Children are overexposed to these challenges by images on the internet and TV and talk around the din- ner table. It is no wonder there is a drug paraphernalia store in Grand Forks, North Dakota, called “Discontent .”Consider- ing the drug-infested and cultur- ally unstable environment we live in, “discontent” probably under- states the feelings of many young people.
I was reluctant to write about this subject. My earlier articles
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