Panel Warns of Substance Abuse Hazards

Saying that he had been “unhappy with myself ... about my life,” Aaron (his last name was withheld), explained to Wayland parents and students factors that led him toward substance abuse and addiction as a middle and high schooler.

Aaron was part of a panel organized by WaylandCares, a local organization dedicated to reducing "youth substance use and abuse and associated risky behaviors," for a talk titled, "Where Will They Be When the Smoke Clears?" Thursday night at Wayland Middle School.

“I could not bear life being completely sober – I needed some other thing to just make me happy again," explained Aaron, who sat on the panel along with a pediatrician and epidemiologist, both instructors at Harvard Medical School; a former Middlesex prosecutor; and individuals in recovery.

Aaron said that as the years went by his drug usage increased and by the time he was a freshman in high school, he was near-daily user.

“I was robbing people [to pay for drugs]," he said. “I was stealing from friends, teachers and a lot of people that I really cared about.”

He reached a point, he said, when drugs took hold of his life. "That’s the only thing that was on my mind,” Aaron said. “That was the only thing that kept me active.”

In 2007, Aaron was arrested for trafficking guns and drugs. That arrest, he said, served as a wake-up call.

“I really can’t explain it, but I knew that I was done," Aaron said. “I knew deep down inside that I had a problem.” In fact, Aaron said he had known since he started using – at 12 years old – that he had a problem.

Today, Aaron is in recovery and has been for three years. Looking back, he said “It makes [him] sick,” to think about the kind of person he became as a user.

The discussion Thursday evening was designed to help parents answer questions related to "why pot is so bad," especially in light of recent policies decriminalizing marijuana and even efforts to legalize it.

Aaron story spoke to the personal struggles of drug use and abuse, but former Middlesex County Assistant District Attorney John Sofis Scheft was there to bring legal context to issues surrounding marijuana possession and use.

Scheft explained that Massachusetts law no longer dispenses criminal penalties for possession of up to an ounce of marijuana. Still, that single ounce of marijuana can “easily” produce 20 joints. In fact, “most people get 30,” out of an ounce, Scheft said. 

It was "more than they realized," Scheft said, speaking of the people who voted to approve the decriminalization of 1 ounce of marijuana.

Additionally, Scheft said that potency of marijuana has increased from about 1- 2 percent THC in the standard 1970s product to a about 8-10 percent THC in today's product.

“We really are today talking about apples and oranges when we talk about what people are getting [today versus in the 1970s]."

Perhaps even more troubling than the drug's potency is the drug's value. Scheft said that the street value of high quality marijuana has surpassed $3,000 a pound and law enforcement officials are seeing increased drug-related violence as a result. 

As an example, Scheft referred to the May 2009 drug murder at Harvard University, and explained that the crime wasn't related cocaine or heroin – it was about marijuana.

While possession of 1 ounce of marijuana has been decriminalized in the Commonwealth, distribution has not. Whether sharing or selling, Scheft cautioned the audience that in either case individuals can be charged with distribution of drugs.

For more information and resources, see WaylandCares.org.