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June 1, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels May 21, 2004 Homeless senior spends her life high By Amanda Bolsinger and Andrew Scot Bolsinger Ashland Daily Tidings She's a senior at Ashland High School who gets decent grades, plays sports, is well-liked, plans on attending Southern Oregon University next year, and is high virtually every minute of the day. Her friends let her sleep on their couches. She can't go home. A step-parent simply won't put up with her erratic behavior any longer, refusing to let her live with the family. She's all but homeless, often going without food for more than 24 hours. One thing she won't go without is marijuana. "When I have money, I smoke an eighth a day," she says. An eighth of an ounce costs $50 on the street. One of her peers, who says he won't smoke before school or heading to work, but still smokes "about four or five times a week," uses an eighth every month. "I smoke when I get up," the 18-year-old senior says, "before school, at lunch, after lunch, before practice, after practice and it doesn't stop until I go to bed. When I am not high I have a lot of adrenaline and am like ADD." Her feelings about her drug use are disjointed, swaying between genuine concern and ideological defiance in a single breath. "I wish I hadn't started smoking until later," she says simply. Moments later: "It's not a crime. Weed should be legal. Alcohol is legal and its way more detrimental. People die from drinking too much all the time, but you can't O.D. on weed." And, "Weed is a gateway drug," she says in the same conversation, admitting that using the drug makes using other drugs more acceptable. She started using when she was 13, about the same time many of her peers think it's OK to begin experimenting. "I did it because my friends did it," she says, "and because I liked it. I did it on a daily basis right after I broke up with my boyfriend and just never stopped." She says she doesn't worry about getting caught being stoned at school. "Teachers can tell," she says, "but I'm high all the time. One teacher made fun of me for it, but besides that no one has ever said anything about it." Nor does she worry about the police. "They may worry about us," she says, "but we don't worry about them." She has never faced disciplinary action in school for her drug use. Her parents are well aware she uses. As a user, she says she has seen how many authority figures use just like her, which simply resolves her conviction that smoking marijuana is OK. But her own life nags at her. She admits her drug use extends far beyond her excessive pot smoking. "I have used everything except ecstasy and acid," she says. Her good friend started smoking when he was 8 years old. He doesn't do other drugs, "besides 'shrooms," he says. She wants to quit, she says. Life has simply been too hard to this point. He doesn't want to quit, plain and simple. "I function better not high," he says, "but I like it better high. I'm going to be smoking when I am an old man. I don't plan on ever stopping." DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams