We've all seen the scenes in movies where teens party hardy and have fun all thanks to drugs and alcohol. If the movie portrayals are to be believed, drugs and alcohol add to the life of the party and turn everyone into best friends. It is a rosy picture and many teens see it as an ideal. But there is a darker side, a side less explored by Hollywood. Movies like "Drugstore Cowboy" and "28 Days" attempt to show a different side of drug and alcohol abuse, but they are still glamorous in nature. It is important to look at these portrayals with a skeptic's eye. After all, movies are about entertainment, and there is nothing entertaining about the reality of drug and alcohol abuse.

Illicit drugs and alcohol are addictive. They are both illegal for teens - illicit drugs being totally illegal and alcohol being illegal depending on age. Statistics show that the younger you are when you experiment with illicit drugs or alcohol the more likely you are to become an addict in later life. Addiction runs in families. You don't choose addiction - addiction chooses you. It is a gamble when you do illicit drugs or alcohol. You gamble with your life, with your personality, with your future and with addiction.

It is not only illicit drugs and alcohol that are problems. There are other ways of getting high that don't technically fall into either category. Legal substances used in illegal ways. When misused, prescription drugs can be just as addictive and just as destructive as illicit drugs. Inhalants are becoming a big problem. Inhalants are otherwise legal substances used in a manner that causes them to get you high. Some substances used in this fashion include; aerosol cleaners, gasoline, cleaning fluids, butane, and acetone. These things are not illegal to sell or buy, they are not controlled substances and they are relatively cheap when compared with drugs or alcohol.

Just what is addiction? Addiction is a physiological dependence on something. It is both physical and psychological in nature. When you are addicted you literally need whatever it is that feeds that addiction. Addiction is not limited to drugs or alcohol. Addiction sneaks up on you. People who are addicted often don't see that they have a problem. They think everyone else is the problem. Addiction differs from abuse. You can abuse drugs and not be addicted. The two most important factors in determining addiction are tolerance and physical dependency. Addiction is terribly destructive. It hurts you and those who care about you. It is not easy to overcome but once you have accepted it as a problem in your life you can get help. There is pending research that forced rehabilitation can work in certain people. Addiction is not fun or trendy. Being an addict is hell on earth.

A true story that tells just how ugly drug and alcohol use can be:

"I was 14 and at a party with my steady boyfriend. He was 2 years older and many of his friends were seniors in high school. To my young eyes, their parties seemed wild and exciting. In hindsight I know that they were out of control and not all that exciting. But I learned that the hard way. I learned that by watching somebody die from doing drugs. His name was Gordon and I didn't know him that well. I knew he was always smiling. I knew people seemed to gravitate toward him. I knew that he was popular and good-looking. I also knew he did drugs. In fact, at least half of my boyfriend's group did..."

When the ambulance got there Gordon was in convulsions. I am talking about real convulsions, the kind when a person's body moves in ways you don't think are even possible. He was foaming at the mouth. His eyes wouldn't shut. I started to cry. The paramedics worked hard to stabilize him and quickly moved him to the ambulance. When one of them asked us what he had taken some girl answered, "Just a few drinks, vodka I think!" I'll never forget the way the paramedic looked when he heard that answer, "Vodka my ass!" he muttered as he pulled Jonah aside.

Jonah was sober and they knew he had called 911, they hoped he would tell the truth. He didn't. All he said was that he thought Gordon may have done drugs but that he had definitely been drinking - lots! I was disappointed in Jonah but too afraid to say anything myself. As the paramedic left he told us, "Your friend is already in trouble and may even die, you can't get him in more trouble by telling me what he used." This was his last attempt to get us to come clean. It failed. Not one of us said a word about the acid. I later learned that Gordon had been seeking a "bigger buzz" and had used all the hits of acid that had been unclaimed by other partygoers. His girlfriend Amy said it was 5 hits. We later learned that each hit was a double hit. Gordon had taken 10 hits of acid! On purpose!! It seemed insane because it was insane.

Gordon eventually died from a massive heart attack but his brain was fried long before his heart went out. The toxicology report on his body showed that along with the acid he had taken, cocaine, alcohol and acetaminophen. The report also showed that the traces of LSD in his body were minute but that there were large amounts of rat poison and bisodium carbonate. They figured the cocaine had been mixed with rat poison and baking soda. Turns out the acid wasn't as strong as everyone first thought. Most of the people at the party who were "tripping out" were doing so in their own mind and not because of any effects of the drug. Explains why everyone seemed to sober up so fast when Gordon was wheeled away.

Gordon was an addict. He wanted an extreme high from his drugs and each time he did a drug he wanted the effect to be stronger than the last time. This caused him to mix drugs, mix drugs with alcohol, and take lots of a drug. His addiction led him by the nose in search of a new, more effective high. His life became drugs - getting drugs, taking drugs, experimenting with mixtures of drugs, getting others to do drugs with him, hosting drug parties... His mother told us he had been in rehab once and that they thought it had worked. It didn't. He was an out of control, 18 year old, addict and yet he seemed so together. He seemed so in control of his life and his decisions. He had me and all his friends fooled. In the end it cost him his life. It cost all of us a piece of our innocence. It is something I can never forget.