TX invades an island ...

[Waylander]

Some kids can grow up in the worst environments but still be clean then some kids grow up with silver spoons in their mouths but turn out dope heads. I’ve seen this first hand.

For adults there is just that switch either people do or don’t possess for them to cut off the cravings and what they will do to get a fix. Same for alcohol, smoking or most other predilections.

Sample of one but I had four mouth surgeries several years ago and got prescribed either Oxy or Percocet each time. Sometimes I wouldn’t even finish the bottles but it just never took with me. Never had the desire for it again. Let me not get my coffee and see what happens though.

[Artos]

Went to the ranch to start prepping for the season & was a 15-20 drive from the area earlier...that stretch from south falcon lake to say Sullivan City / La Joya is an interesting strip of the rio.

[jsbhike]

Agreed. Unfortunately, that is impossible. We have clear evidence of that, even today.

So how is empowering those groups helping anything?

[SteyrAUG]

Some kids can grow up in the worst environments but still be clean then some kids grow up with silver spoons in their mouths but turn out dope heads.

For adults there is just that switch either people do or don’t possess for them to cut off the cravings and what they will do to get a fix. Same for alcohol, smoking or most other predilections.

Sample of one but I had four mouth surgeries several years ago and got prescribed either Oxy or Percocet each time. Sometimes I wouldn’t even finish the bottles but it just never took with me. Never had the desire for it again. Let me not get my coffee and see what happens though.

I've seen kids in the worst neighborhoods figure out "this sucks, I have to get out of here. My family sucks, I have to get away from them" and they did and went on to be very successful people. They figured it out, they did whatever they had to do, they asked for and got assistance from anyone they could.

Also seen the suburban kids who wanted for nothing and wanted nothing more than to be hardcore gangster rappers, drug dealers and bangers. These are the shitheads who tag up their own gated communities, usually have little trouble getting firearms, generally cause the most problems because NOBODY has straightened them out yet, certainly not their parents, and wouldn't last 3 days in the real hood which they think they would rule. They are the mostly likely to engage in criminal activity to establish street cred with their wannabe retard friends and usually end up hurting somebody in the process. They really do think life is a movie. Usually goes one of two ways, mommy and daddy lawyer saves their bacon and maybe they learn from it or they do real time and figure out fast they really aren't a gangster rapper.

[Waylander]

I've seen kids in the worst neighborhoods figure out "this sucks, I have to get out of here. My family sucks, I have to get away from them" and they did and went on to be very successful people. They figured it out, they did whatever they had to do, they asked for and got assistance from anyone they could.

Also seen the suburban kids who wanted for nothing and wanted nothing more than to be hardcore gangster rappers, drug dealers and bangers. These are the shitheads who tag up their own gated communities, usually have little trouble getting firearms, generally cause the most problems because NOBODY has straightened them out yet, certainly not their parents, and wouldn't last 3 days in the real hood which they think they would rule. They are the mostly likely to engage in criminal activity to establish street cred with their wannabe retard friends and usually end up hurting somebody in the process. They really do think life is a movie. Usually goes one of two ways, mommy and daddy lawyer saves their bacon and maybe they learn from it or they do real time and figure out fast they really aren't a gangster rapper.

This happened to more people than I can count in the smallish town I grew up in. Plenty of kids from the projects that would grow up fine but kids that got handed everything turned out shit heads. There seemed to be something in the water around the mid to late 90s.

One guy is a bankers son who with his friends wanted to be gangster rappers. They talked the talk and wore the clothes and jewelry but weren’t about shit. Most of them got hooked on meth but I’m sure have gotten in pricy support programs or bailed out if trouble. In the not-so-fortunate group, I had two good friends eat their shotguns. If there’s one drug I despise it’s meth.

[SteyrAUG]

This happened to more people than I can count in the smallish town I grew up in. Plenty of kids from the projects that would grow up fine but kids that got handed everything turned out shit heads. There seemed to be something in the water around the mid to late 90s.

One guy is a bankers son who with his friends wanted to be gangster rappers. They talked the talk and wore the clothes and jewelry but weren’t about shit. Most of them got hooked on meth but I’m sure have gotten in pricy support programs or bailed out if trouble. In the not-so-fortunate group, I had two good friends eat their shotguns. If there’s one drug I despise it’s meth.

If you think it happens in small towns, you should see a larger city through the perspective of correction programs and things like that. Funniest (well maybe ironic more than funny) thing I've seen are "actual" drug dealers / low level bangers who would trade their way out of that situation in 10 seconds if they could and there would be a line of 50 kids from a "good family" dying to take their place (or they think they do).

We all think we had strict parents growing up, but my friends from the "actual downtown" Ft. Lauderdale simply weren't allowed outdoors after dark. It was eat dinner, homework, a little tv then bedtime "because you ain't going out there after dark." And they will be the first to admit their "strict parents" probably saved their lives because a bunch of kids they grew up with didn't make it.

[tgizzard]

Having the school nurse hand you amphetamines to enhance your performance right after DARE class probably didn’t help some people, either. Helped me, though. I learned that I hate amphetamines.

Thank you for pointing this out.


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[SteyrAUG]

Having the school nurse hand you amphetamines to enhance your performance right after DARE class probably didn’t help some people, either. Helped me, though. I learned that I hate amphetamines.

I'm guessing that is related to the whole "your kid has ADHD and we are prescribing these drugs" thing? That really was the beginning of the end. Once schools become your kids doctor, it really is all over.

[Diamondback]

I'm guessing that is related to the whole "your kid has ADHD and we are prescribing these drugs" thing? That really was the beginning of the end. Once schools become your kids doctor, it really is all over.

Yeah, being force-fed Ritalin as a kid was one of the big Unwaivables in my long list of 4-Fs, and I'm STILL going to have to fight with FAA trying to get a medical because of "let's dump everything we don't understand into the ADHD bucket whether it's really something else like high-functioning autism or not."

[nick84]

I'd have to do some more research to check the specifics, but I'm fairly sure that Oregon's de-criminalization efforts have turned into a huge mess. Overdoses and deaths trending way up, drug related crime way up, the whole nine.... I believe I even read that some of the stalwart proponents are starting to waver a bit on continuing to support it.

I'm not convinced that the "war on drugs" was well-conceived or executed, but I no longer care much for the pure libertarian arguments that these are purely personal decisions and the state should do nothing.

Maybe we should annex Mexico, and clean it out. (half-serious....beats another Middle East war.)