Opinion: Health Education in schools needs to be more drug focused.
Do you remember when you were in school, sitting in health class? You know, the same class where they teach you to put condoms on wooden penises or un-ripe bananas? The same class where you were taught not to use drugs but how to safely consume alcohol?
We’re taught how to pour a standard drink, how to determine our tolerance, and how to help someone who is overly intoxicated. But not how to tell what drugs are clean, how much is too much, and what to do when you experience a bad trip. Now, I’m not arguing against the education around alcohol, rather I beg the question, what about drugs?
In acceptance of not being able to prevent usage, why not educate us? Specifically, on how to use it, when to use it, what stuff is good and what stuff will make you “chew each other's faces off” as my grandmother would say.
Let me take you back to my first encounter with weed. My friend, let’s call her Leah, her cousin’s friend’s sister knew a guy who knew a guy that could sort us what one refers to as a ‘tinny’. After the intimidating exchange of a 20 for this deadbeat green plant, I jumped straight on YouTube and typed in “how to make a homemade bong”. I used a needle to poke holes in the tinfoil that sat in the top like a (questionable) cone-piece. After the careful following of the step-by-step process, we had ourselves a very marginal, yet functioning bong. It would have been beneficial for me and the other 34,450 people who viewed the clip, to know that inhaling aluminium-based products exposes you to a number of harmful toxins, which can cause issues localised in the respiratory system and or the brain. Without this knowledge we smoked carelessly and fearlessly, with our biggest concern being if my mother was going to find out.
Leah went first and I followed her. I watched the smoke get thicker and thicker in the bottle, and I pulled as hard as I could with what little breath I had left. Instantly, I felt my eyes start to do somersaults in their sockets and tingles took over my entire body. I remember thinking my blood felt like sparkling water. (Yes, a high thought.) I exhaled and looked at Leah as she was swaying. Leah wasn’t swaying. I was swaying. Everything was swaying. Leah tried telling me I could be having ‘outer body experience’, but she said it in such a casual tone it felt wrong to be scared. Plus, I was 18 with an ego, I didn’t want to be that person who couldn’t handle it. I wanted to be cool. I kept quiet about all the noise that went on in my head, how I couldn’t feel my limbs and how I had no control over my body.
So, when another friend of mine tried weed for the first time and broke out into an uncontrollable panic attack, I knew what to do. Not because I had seen it on slideshows in the classroom or been taught by my parents, but because I had been there too. It wasn’t as easy as rolling her over into the recovery position or putting my fingers down her throat. Nor was it a matter of force feeding her carbs and putting her to bed. Our bodies don’t process weed the same way it processes alcohol; therefore, the treatment is different. It takes time, patience and a few doses of reassurance. They need to feel comfortable, if you're drunk enough, anywhere feels comfortable, even the bathroom floor. But in a bad trip, you're on high alert and to find where you feel safe enough to ride it out can be a challenge in itself.
We don’t get taught about what to do if those moments. We know about the recovery position for alcohol poisoning, but nothing about what’s a safe tolerance of weed, nangs or acid to take. When these trips go wrong, we’re left questioning what the fuck to do. Right now, our best bet is to google ‘wikiHow’ or ring a helpline because the answers aren’t in our textbooks. The real danger lies in us having to rely on the process of trial and error when it to comes to experimenting. It’s time to properly educate our now subtly compromised brains. Education around drugs doesn’t start and finish with the school system. Our elders, such as parents, teachers and health professionals need to be up to date with sufficient knowledge to engage with our youth, and do so with no judgement. In saying this, the execution of educating us all needs to be smart. Because let’s be real, we still binge drink.
If the content of this article affected you in any way, don’t be afraid to reach out to these support numbers:
Alcohol/Drug Helpline: 0800 787 797
Healthline: 0800 611 116
Lifeline: 0800 543 345 or (09) 522 2999