BEVERLY, Massachusetts (CNN)[/b] -- It was Halloween night when 12-year-old Lucy Gross picked up her first marijuana cigarette, starting a spiral from which she is still struggling to recover.
"I tried it and I liked it and it made me feel independent and it made me feel more grown up, more mature," Lucy said.
By the time she was 15, the Gloucester, Massachusetts, teen was drinking, using cocaine and taking a variety of other pills, including Vicodin and Oxycontin. Her parents were worried. Even she knew she needed help.
"One day I put a sign on my door saying send me to treatment or I'm running away. I knew I couldn't be at home and be OK."
Lucy's story is not unlike those of thousands of other teens in the United States. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration said more than 341,000 young people between the ages of 12 and 17 are in rehab annually. That's 1 in 70. Adolescent drug abuse cuts across all demographics -- race, class and geography.
According to SAMHSA, more than 70 percent of adolescents who get treated have a co-occurring psychiatric disorder. Lucy was no different. In sixth grade she was seeing a school counselor and behavioral specialist. By high school, she had a diagnosis of depression and was suffering from anxiety.
Lucy spent a month in treatment at a hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, then six more months at a residential facility in Maine for troubled teens. Her parents' biggest worry was what would happen when Lucy had to go back to her old school.
She has aco-occurring psychiatric disorder andgot into the coke and oxy's by age 15. Folks like that are generally gonna be in for a long hard ride whether pot is legal or not.
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"Shoot him again....his soul is still dancing"
Not sure that smoking pot at 12 and then hitting cocaine and oxycontin to the point that you need treatment by 15 is normal.This galhas co--occurring psychiatric problems which means she is gonna have problems and likely abuse something or other whether it is legal or not, or they will have her on prescription anti-depression meds that will probably be worse than pot.
I am assuming that you are trying to get to the issue of pot as a "gateway" drug as an argument against legalization. I'm not a big fan of legalization, but dont see this gal as a poster child for pot as a gateway since she would likely snort Ajax if she thought it would give her a buzz.
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"Shoot him again....his soul is still dancing"
Lanse couche couche hmmmmmmmmm You don't think what happened to her would be the normal path of a substance abuser?
Just as big a chance as if she drank bad milk.
Some people beat their wives, some drink, some drink and beat their wives. Seeing any patterns here? Of course not.[:-]
And Ihighly doubt a joint was the first step in this girls mental demise.
so the girl was flawed and what she got into had nothing to do with it?
she could have eated rotisserie chicken and lemonade and went down the same path huh ?
She could have been aborted , so really things aren't all that bad,
huh.
I just think weak people fall into a pattern of making poor decisions, smoking a joint didn't cause her mental deficiencies, in turn I would say her mental deficiencies are are what led her to the addictive properties of the opiates she turned to.
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RE: a strong case for legalizing pot
I am not for legalizing weed. Just as I am not for lowering the drinking age. IMO pot is a relatively harmless drug on its own but none the less is agateway drug. I grew up in the 60's and saw almost universal acceptance of pot as a recreational drug and even a way of life. Many of those who toked up went on to something else. Some of the ones who only smoked pot still smoke it and have evolved into dim bulbs. Nothing worse than seeing an aging hippy with brain damage.
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Yes Stealthy, she is obviously flawed in terms of psychological issues and would likely have gotten in trouble with something or other even if she never took a single hit off a joint. Would be interesting to see her full substance use history. Dunno, but I would bet that she probably had a drink or two well before she tried pot or maybe experimented with inhalants like gas or paint thinner.
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"Shoot him again....his soul is still dancing"
Some of the ones who only smoked pot still smoke it and have evolved into dim bulbs. Nothing worse than seeing an aging hippy with brain damage.
Do you really really think that they were destined to be be beacons in the night?
I feel a stoned dim wit is no more a dim wit than those who are dim to start with.
Just like alcohol I know functioning alcoholics that you would never know touched a bottle, and i know guys who smoke weed like some people drink coffee, and like wise unidentifiable.
a strong case for legalizing pot
