To the children and teenagers that grew up as I did:

We grew up happy and full of life,
Not wanting, or needing more.
We knew not of horrors of wars or strife,
But other things were in store.

Always bright and shiny smiling,
Of course, we never had a clue.
Of what dangers were quietly piling
Or that our innocence was through

We were young when it began,
Barely into our teens.
It started with that sip and ran,
Like an out of control machine.

Sips turned into swigs and shots,
And the drinks, well they got stronger
The weekend nights slid into days
And the parties lasted longer

Our taste for adventure not nearly quenched,
We decided to progress
We started with that natural herb
That everyone possessed.

Blazing and giggling in hazy fog,
We never felt so alive.
Filling our lungs with poisonous smog,
Before we could even drive.

Next came some of the other plants,
But of the same earthy variety.
We felt compelled to try again,
Driven by our newfound notoriety.

The lights got bright and the earth, distorted
The ground seemed to give way.
Our faces melted into oblivion,
But we still thought it child’s play.

Moving on from natural fun,
We proceeded to pill popping.
Potent capsules full of venom,
But now, there was no stopping.

The happy ones with fuzzy touch,
Came first as the risks got steeper.
The child-like designs upon them,
Luring us ever deeper.

The white ones with the numbing power,
Those put us on a binge.
Finally, we could understand
The draw of a syringe. 

We steered clear, and turned instead
To the bars of relaxation.
Lounging and giggling and swaying over,
It was nice to feel sedation. 

Then came the powder, cold and white
Crush, cut, line and blow.
The rush was quick and felt so cool,
But little did we know.

For months and months, we never ceased
Our use of that nose candy.
But our parents still could never guess,
Our modus operandi. 

Our lives had surely fallen apart,
In fact, just all around us.
Skeletal, wide-eyed, and desperate 
We renounced the drugs that bound us.

Back to the drink, it was, and yes!
A cure for all and one
But how little did we suspect
That the damage was already done.

You see, by now, it could be said
That we had become addicted.
To every poison, all or one,
Something we never had predicted.

They say that addicts of these types
Are the worst and only kind
But being one, I know that now
It’s just a state of mind.

With all the pressure, all the pain
Invisible, but there
Sometimes you’ve got to push the boundaries
Further than you dare. 

Our lives, they did proceed in kind
And look how much we’ve grown!
With lives and plans and adult things
And some to have our own!

Not all the stories end up so well,
So children, please take heed.
The world of addiction is a scary one,
And you it does not need.