We all must fight drugs at Lodi's high schools

It was late in my freshman year and I had just gotten out of math class. At my side was a new student who, despite his height, was a guy with tall ambitions. As we cracked jokes and laughed about our surroundings I ran into a few other friends. We chatted for a few minutes and again we were off walking. I couldn't help but notice how quiet the new student had become.

Finally, he broke the silence.

"So, dude, you got some weed I can score?" he asked me.

It was a history-making day for me. I'd never been asked that before. I had been asked a few times before if I wanted in on some, but never if I was a marijuana retailer.

Stunned that this guy would think this of me, I laughed and asked, "Are you serious?"

"Uh, nah, nah man. I was just playin,'" he replied. But the reality was that he was very serious. And he knew homie don't play that card.

This new student quickly distanced himself from me. After all, he saw the way I looked at him. He knew that if he was gonna be down with me, he'd have to be clean.

Well, recently it seems as if Livable, Lovable Lodi's image has been tainted by news of our high schoolers becoming more actively involved in drugs.

To that I say, what took this community so long to realize it?

Oh, I know — it's the parents who swear up and down their kids aren't involved in that garbage. It's the parents who trust their child with all of their being. It's the parents who are in grave denial.

Parents, as nice as it is to be such a friend to your kid, it is so much more important to be their correctional officer. I'm not kidding. For the most part, young people grow by the values and morals their parents instill in them.

Confront your kid, demand to know where they've been and with whom. Dig into their lives if you are kept out. It's better to be the overly concerned parent than the parent who doesn't know anything about their child.

If you need advice or assistance in this area, I encourage you to contact the police department and speak with an officer.

But home is half the battle. School is the other.

High school is one realm where this stuff has been happening for a long time. But an area constantly overlooked is middle school.

Folks, this is where it begins. This is where I was first approached and offered various drugs, this is where the issue continues to originate.

I know of multiple middle schoolers who are solicited coke, "e" and weed every week. But ask them, and they'd deny it.

They didn't squawk for the same reason many of us don't. Fear for their own personal safety. In an environment where you are around the same people everyday, where you run the risk of having nowhere to hide, coming clean with this vital information can be horrifying.

This is why a drug community exists in every town across the country.

Schools make the ideal environment for selling and networking drugs. There are hundreds if not thousands of students on any given campus. I can recall noticing "students" on campus I had never seen before. Ones that would be there one day, trying to stay under the radar of administrators and security, and then gone the next.

Again, schools make an ideal drug environment.

Drugs in our community, in our schools, can only be stomped out by those directly affected. If you or someone you know has been solicited with drugs, contact your school resource officer, administration, or call the police department narcotics line at 333-6734. I made the mistake of never speaking up, and because of it drugs are more of a problem now than ever.

You can make all the difference. Don't be intimidated, don't allow drugs to rule this town.

Wade Heath is a college student and writer of the WadeWire at: http://www.wadewire.blogspot.com. He can be reached at: reachwade@lycos.com.

First published: Thursday, January 18, 2007