Drugs are becoming way too normalized

I'm a college student and I can't go to a house party or even just hang out with a friend without being offered drugs. I've never been comfortable with doing drugs and I'm fine with that most of the time, but sometimes I get the feeling I'm missing out on something.<br><br>I don't know what's happening, but drugs seem to be more mainstream now than they were when I was growing up. Back in high school, you would only see "burnouts" doing drugs but now it seems like everyone does drugs, even the "popular" people and the "good students" are doing them. I'm not even old enough to feel like I'm out of touch with the times.<br><br>Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to lecture anyone on drug use or anything because I don't think I have the right to do that, but I do want to point out that I think the normalization of drugs are a bad thing. Drugs used to be some edgy thing that only some people did, but now it seems like everyone is doing them. I get that marijuana is pretty harmless for most people, but the weed being sold today is not the same as it was back in the day. I'm not saying people shouldn't smoke weed, I'm just saying people shouldn't feel pressured to do it.<br><br>There's a difference between doing drugs recreationally and being a drug addict, and I think we're neglecting the latter category. Back in the day we would see PSAs and all kinds of shit to prevent kids from doing drugs. Of course some of it was exaggerated, but it worked pretty well and I think we need something like that again. I don't think kids should be discouraged from asking questions though.<br><br>I don't think we should be teaching kids to "just say no". I think we should be teaching kids to ask questions. Why do you want to do drugs? Because your friends are doing it? Because you want to get high? There are plenty of other ways to enjoy yourself without doing drugs. If you're feeling peer pressure from friends to do drugs, maybe you should find different friends. I'm not saying it's that simple, but it seems like the majority of people who do drugs do because they feel pressured.<br><br>There's a lot of talk about mental health these days, but what a lot of people don't know is that most drugs are really bad for you if you have a mental disorder. I'm bipolar and I've talked to plenty of people with other disorders who use drugs regularly. Of course, there are some drugs that are good for certain mental disorders, but you should not be self medicating. I've heard so many horror stories about people with disorders using drugs and ending up in a much worse situation.<br><br>I think we should educate people more on drugs, not to scare them away but just to tell them how it could affect them. It doesn't hurt to know more. I'm not saying we should go back to the anti-drug campaigns of the 80s and 90s, but we should teach people about drugs in school. People who use drugs regularly should be better educated on the risks of doing them, and people who don't use drugs regularly should also be educated on things to look out for in case of an overdose.<br><br>This is a pretty empty post but i just wanted to say that I think drugs should not be normalized anymore than they already are. Don't feel pressured to do drugs. If you're already doing drugs, please educate yourself on the risks of doing them. If you're already addicted to drugs, please get help.<br><br>Edit: I didn't expect this post to get so much traction. I think it's time to stop getting replies. Thank you to everyone who has been constructive, positive, and respectful in their replies. I feel like I've said all I can on the topic. I appreciate everyone who was respectful and willing to listen, even if they didn't agree with me.