I have done the same things that most of my peers have done. I have drunk alcohol and experimented with other drugs. After a few years of experimenting, it never developed into a problem for me, although I realize that I was lucky that I did not turn into a junkie.

I guess I just got sick of the same old thing, Friday night parties, arguments over stuff you could not remember the next day, and expensive clothes ruined because I could not stand on my own two feet. Suddenly, all of this no longer appealed to me.

Then I realized that a lot of my friends still thought it was fun and great. They began to use bigger, better drugs and started drinking out of control. I realized that after I quit playing around with drugs, I lost most of my friends, at least my drinking friends. I was no longer cool.

I still go to parties but I don't drink alcohol; soda suffices. I find it hilarious to watch these people getting pie-eyed out of their minds, losing control of nearly everything. They can barely walk, talk, or see. It's like when you were young watching that town drunk tripping over his own feet.

I have never lost a close friend due to drinking but I can see this happening, and it hurts deep inside to realize there's nothing I can do. I ask you to take one, just one, night off from drinking to watch your friends and see for yourself what you are doing, what you look like in that state. ?