IC ADD
TED
4 “cursed�
ashia lennon
6 promises
jef f bradbur n
7 jobi
liliet ramirez
8 midnight binge fests
with a side of nutella kaylie copeland
10 i am... an addict debbie masela
11 addicted to negativity The opinions, belief and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and interview participants do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Burman University or its official policies or any affiliates. Each author sites his or her own words.
rechelle-lee smith
12 acid rap: drugs and
addiction in popular music regan za p
14 blanket statements for
sleeping bag problems: how campus policies are causing addiction and hurting those in need of help eric anderson
18 the tur ning point danna hall
20 statistics
21 fist bumps with jesus angelica cor nejo
22 lent
sarah wallace
23 comic
deic y alcudia
24 secret garden codrina baston
cover & layout design by jacqui mccarty
16 drugs: mastering the medium zahara mcgann
“CURSED” e d i t o r ’s n o t e
For a long time I believed I was cursed. My childhood for the most part was colored by staring in awe of dazzling, sunny, pristine blue skies of Jamaica and the various misadventures of ‘the three terribles’ (the label my mummy had for the siblings and I). We lived 30 minutes away from the nearest town, so we enjoyed the spacious outdoors ripe for creativity, imagination and childish mischief. But for a long time, I believed, in the midst of all this beauty, I was cursed. Doomed. Growing up in a home where my dad had a drinking problem wasn’t just hard, it was one of the most difficult and heart wrenching experiences. I remember as a seven-year-old praying he would die just to end the torment of another drunken episode of slurred insults and midnight escapades of essentially trashing the house with us questioning if somehow the burden of our inclusion in this world was what drove him to this inconsolable sorrow. 4
“CURSED”
Most of all I hated the hiding, the covering up and pretending that nothing was wrong. Always careful to portray that we were a happy family of 6. In culture that often promotes alcohol consumption and an overproof rum content of 60% alcohol. My dad’s episodes were not completely isolated nor an uncommon occurrence within other families. As if it was compensation for often enduring our father’s episodes, one of his sisters attempted to soothe us saying, “do not hate your dad, alcohol is just our family curse”. That moment my brain went into full panic mode repeating one sentiment, ‘It is going to happen to me too’. There are multiple studies that attempt to explore the idea of genetics versus environmental influences when it comes to addiction. There is a lot of evidence that might lead one to conclude that as children of parents with a history of addiction, we stand a greater chance of being predisposed to addiction. In an article entitled Genes Matter in Addiction, the American Psychology Association purported, “At least half of a person’s susceptibility to drug addiction can be linked to genetic factors” (1). I remember lamenting this possibility to one of my friends. She was able to share that in her family history she too had a grandfather who was an alcoholic. She related her mother’s resolve: harness the other 50% environmental factors and decrease it. So what does that mean? It means she was careful to avoid triggers that would aid her down the cursed path of addiction. As well as surround herself with positive influences and people who would support her. Successfully for their family, they were able to break that family curse now for two generations… and counting.
As an adult having understood a lot of the underlying factors that contributed to my father’s past addiction to alcoholism, He and I have been able to openly discuss addiction, especially in our family, on multiple levels. I’m also not mortified that I am cursed anymore. While I understand that genetically or otherwise my parents could pass on negative traits, blindly focusing on them would have me miss out on the other traits I have inherited such as strength, endurance and intellect. (Unfortunately, I did not inherit their exuberant sports capabilities). The other major lesson I have learnt from my dad’s past battle with alcoholism was compassion and understanding. A lot of times we see people in their outcomes, not able to see the experiences that led them to their decisions. In Matthew 5:7, it says blessed are the merciful for they [too] shall obtain mercy. That’s an aspect of love and its unconditional nature that I hold and hope to always impart. That is what I believe God does when he sees us, He looks past our missteps and loves us unconditionally. The last lesson is choice. We are complex beings endowed with the privilege of choice. We might not be able to change our genetics or demographical origin but as far as possible we do get to decide where and how we will live our lives. I hope we make choices that are in our best health and for those that love us. That of course doesn’t insinuate perfection on our part to live solely to avoid addiction but even if we do experience (or experiment) our missteps, that we would strive for better decisions. As the famous contemporary philosopher Rihanna Fenty tattooed on her body, ‘never a failure always a lesson’. http://www.apa.org/monitor/2008/06/genes-addict.aspx 1
BY ASHIA LENNON
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PROMISES It was one of the first places I can remember as a child. Steep cliffs that make your stomach turn, trees that tower like giants, thick moss hanging like clothes from their limbs. A green river meandered far below on both sides of you. And water dripping from the pine and maple canopy far above your head. The place felt like an undisturbed island, deep in the Oregon forest, although it was only a fifteen-minute drive from our house. Peninsula Park. At the end of the summer of 2015, Josh left for Bolivia, leaving behind Zach and I to spend the long days together. We spent the days walking the rocky beaches and driving the twisting coastal roads. Once on a hike, he told me about drug rehab and meditation and loving a woman. How the last month was the first time he had been sober since grade 10. We found a patch of sunlight in the woods, sat shirtless, spreading our arms out like Caucasian solar panels and listened to the nearby stream with closed eyes. We talked about the future, about dreams. And once as we sat on a rock at the edge of the river in Peninsula Park, he told me that we wanted to go back to our old high school and talk about the dangers of drugs. I shot him a glance, surprised. This is the guy who had been smoking marijuana since the 11th grade, throwing house parties when my parents were out of town, and downing whatever prescription drugs he could get his hands on. The brother who dropped out of my life my grade 12 year in high school. The same one who recently found himself in the psych-ward of a hospital during our Christmas break in Hawaii due to abuse of amphetamines, barbiturates, heroin and a plethora of other substances. How he got drunk and couldn’t drive me to a friend’s house which made me have to walk for two hours toting a suitcase, yet still managed to slur out the words “I love you guys”. 6
He cracked his famous charming smile as his hazel eyes lit up as he looked out over the river. “Yeah! Maybe we could give the talk together! You’re really good at public speaking.” When I realized he wasn’t kidding I felt a rare feeling of hope flutter in my chest. I nodded and we shook on it. It was settled. But Zach can’t honor that promise anymore. He died in a hospital bed from a massive drug overdose which had put him in a coma and caused irreversible brain-damage. I wish I could forget what that looked like. He was 23. Zach may have died with a flicker. But so did a lot of other things. The plans we made. The trips across the world we never got to go on. My definition of family. How when we go into a restaurant we pause before quietly ordering a table for four. The lump I get in my throat when I see my mother cry. His favorite leather jacket hanging in my closet that still smells like cigarettes and cologne. How a hilarious, foul-mothered sweet talker is missing from the world, and how unfair it is that no one else has the privilege of meeting him. Like how I can’t pass a homeless person without looking them in the eye and wondering what their story is. Addiction is about so much more than an ugly habit. It’s about families. My family. It’s about gut-wrenching broken relationships. It’s about powerlessness. It looks like the hopeless look on strangers’ faces, or a friend’s or your parent’s. It looks like the inability to ask for help and the irrational denial of the very people who love you most. It’s not just about you. So you can’t tell me you can do whatever you want. Sure, your choices are between you and whatever God you believe in. But know damn well you’re not the only one effected. I still have a promise to carry out. And on the days that are good, I’m going to do something about it. Zach’s light may have been snuffed out all too soon, but I’m always going to remember the flame.
P R O M I S E S
BY JEFF BRADBURN
JOBI I do not know if you ever had that one best friend who got you in every way, sometimes you did not have to say how you felt they just knew. I did, he was my brother and my closest friend. I lost him this year. It has not been an easy journey. But the one thing that I would want you to learn from a small part of my story is how it is to see someone you love dearly struggle. Although, there were no signs of addiction in the beginning, my brother had been experimenting with recreational drugs. It began to be a major issue as the years passed. I quickly learnt being around someone who struggled with addiction wasn’t always easy. Matter of fact, it was a learning experience, I learned to love unconditionally. My brother taught me by his actions that he loved people unconditionally and everyone loved him for that. I believe he also deserved to be loved no matter what “flaws” existed. Love is love. He was my person that I loved and will love. The last time I saw my brother was after Christmas. He came to my aunt’s home to celebrate her birthday. I must say it wasn’t easy; he hadn’t been himself since he had left home. My brother has always had a fear of dealing with his inner demons; the way he dealt with them was to just not be present. Addiction doesn’t always start with experimenting with recreational drugs. I learned that there is always a struggle the person has in their heart… a fear, an emptiness and unworthiness of being loved. And that is what I saw.
BY LILIET RAMIREZ
Overcoming inner challenges isn’t always easy and there are people who would prefer to cancel it out and find something that would make you feel numb. I think that’s what my brother was struggling with. The reality is that we all have those fears: the fear of being unworthy, of feeling alone, of hearing someone say that you need to do better, be better. Thinking that you aren’t pretty enough or handsome enough. Relationship struggles, family struggles. Those inner demons that we fight every day can be the beginning of an addiction, finding anything that will make you feel numb to the pain inside. Anything that makes you forget the ugly that you THINK you are. Anything to make you cool or popular or normal. Anything to not be you. Those are the beginning of something that makes you feel good... for a while, but cause more harm than anything else. Seeing someone you love go down a path that you cannot follow is the most painful experience I have ever had. To see the person slowly vanish from the person that you once remembered It isn’t the romanticized experience often portrayed. It is as ugly and painful as life can get. There isn’t anything more painful than to wait for the inevitable... I would never wish for someone to see how quickly it changes someone you care for dearly. I want you to understand that addiction starts in the minds and heart of the person. It starts with other people showing love and acknowledging that there is pain in all of us! That we all have our demons that we struggle with. Wouldn’t it be beautiful to not do it alone, to be a campus of unity and strength for each other.
JOBI
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MIDNIGHT BINGE FESTS WITH A SIDE OF NUTELLA I’m sitting in my bed starting this article, my stomach full from my latest midnight binge fest; how fitting, since this issue’s focus is supposed to be on addictions. My stomach hurts because I just ate a million strawberries dipped in Nutella, which just so happens to be my current addiction. If you don’t believe me, check out this tweet I made not so long ago….
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It’s true because a) a lot of the time I really don’t feel like being alive, and b) in that moment Nutella truly did feel like the only thing making my life worthwhile. Funny, right? I guess it’s easier to make tweets that your friends will favorite and laugh along to than it is to tell everybody you’re actually high key struggling. Guys, I’m high key struggling. You know that saying that’s all over the internet, “am I suffering a major depressive episode or am I just lazy?” – well, this is the questions I ask myself all the time. So, sometimes when I start asking myself this I Google symptoms just to give myself some comfort. Is my inability to get out of bed because I’m a lazy bum and does it mean I don’t want friends because I’m always flaking on them? My doctor would tell me it’s the depression, but sometimes my brain likes to play tricks on me —
MIDNIGHT BINGE FESTS WITH A SIDE OF NUTELLA
that, and forget to produce serotonin. Anyway, a lot of people who struggle with depression lose weight because of their lack of interest in eating. However, some go the complete opposite by increasing their food consumption *insert raising hand emoji here*. Yup, that’s me! I guess sometimes I feel so low that the only thing that makes me feel is Nutella or ice cream or McDonald’s French fries. Food tastes good. And when nothing else in life feels good, food feels good. The first few bites of Salted Caramel ice cream literally feel like Heaven on Earth to me. Until I can’t stop eating it and I’ve finished a whole pint to myself and am moving on to whatever else I can get my
Getting out of bed in search of food, only to crawl back into bed twenty minutes later feeling painfully full and even lower than before – that’s what my addiction to food looks like. Food has always been my struggle. The thing I fall back on when life gets tough. I’ve come a LONG way in my short 22 years and I still have a LONG way to go. Understanding what a healthy relationship with food looks like is something I think I might forever be working on. And then figuring out how to implement that healthy relationship… dang! It’s a struggle, fam. But I think when we start talking about addictions it’s important to remember that we aren’t
hands on. Like All Dressed Chips or those delicious Popcorn Twists. Binge eating doesn’t actually make me feel better – but it’s something I often turn to in times of extreme darkness.
alone in them. Regardless of what addiction each of us faces, we’re all humans on this little floating sphere trying to cope with all the crap thrown our way. Although our coping mechanisms often leave us worse off than before, the one thing I’ve learned is that our human connection will be what keeps us the strongest. Keeps us accountable. Keeps us alive. It’s important that when we talk about addictions, we also talk about relationship. One of the main reasons recovering alcoholics go to AA meetings is because of the support given by those who also attend. In therapy sessions, psychologists encourage their clients to seek the support of friends and family as they face whatever challenge they may be facing. We were made for relationship and a huge part of relationship is support. Without it, we wouldn’t make it very far. I’d like to see more people selflessly loving and supporting each other as we each face our own addictions and struggles. I’d like to see more people accepting each other as they are; addictions and all. I’d like to see more honest conversation on this campus about those addictions and about our struggles. I’d like to see less judgment, more love and more outreached hands. I know I certainly could use more outreached hands. I’m sure each of you could, too.
Addictions can truly take any form and I sometimes think of addictions more as coping mechanisms than anything else. This world is truly rough. I don’t think I can say it enough times to portray the harsh blows this world has dealt me and the pain that has come along with it. I don’t think I can say it enough times to portray the harsh blows the world has dealt to each of you, either. Life hurts. Yes, sometimes it can be a beautiful, wonderful whirlwind of “it’s going to be okay” but a lot of the time it isn’t. And as each of us go through the hardships and hurt of life – we each find our own ways to cope. Unfortunately, most of the ways we find aren’t healthy and in fact, can be very detrimental. Drugs, alcohol, pornography, sex, social media, food – it’s all the same when each respective thing becomes an addiction. My addiction is why I’ve gained 25 LBS after working my butt off to lose 30 LBS. My addiction is also my crutch when I’m feeling so low I can’t even make it to class or answer my dad’s calls.
B Y K AY L I E C O P E L A N D
9
i am...
AN ADDICT Addiction. A one lettered word that brings forth fear to people who are an addict themselves, or knows of a user. I am an addict. However, I am more than the sum of my counterparts. I say this with caution, though. People who have addictive personalities are more prone to becoming addicts than one who does not have the traits. An addictive personality is something I most definitely have. According to WebMD, it is not an actual psychiatric disease, but rather many traits that can combust making one an addict (1). The article went on to say that it can be from one’s genes, but that is not the only critical component to making one have an addictive personality. People who are adrenaline junkies, and who just cannot do anything just once is a huge sign as well. I am an adrenaline junkie. Ask my friends; they’ll tell you how I am hyper all the time. God forbid I drink coffee because I sure am going to go insane with a motor mouth. Yep, that’s me. Heck, one semester, I drank coffee all the time. All. The. Time. And it just wasn’t one cup. It became so bad that I would have chest pains from all that coffee. However, I did not stop. Sometimes, I would even take my Adderall along with my cup of coffee.
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Although I knew it was dangerous and I was putting myself at risk, I didn’t care. Two types of stimulants like ADHD meds and caffeine are not an ideal pair because it makes one’s heart pump more blood. One cup of coffee with Adderall was okay, according to my doctor, but more than that and I am putting myself at risk. Although I knew that coffee and Adderall was not all that good for me, I still did it to myself. Mixing both stopped my symptoms of ADHD for a little while. For a couple of hours, I could be a normal human being. I did not have to worry about my lack of filter or the millions of things that are always running through my brain. As a result, I did it more often. I became addicted to my definition of normalcy. However, as time went on, it slowly became less active, so I had to drink more coffee to keep up with the dopamine. It wasn’t until a friend of mine pulled me aside and begged me to stop this form of self-destruction. The chest pains became more painful from all that caffeine that I drank. That was when I knew that I had to stop. I had to be healthy because being a university student required me to be on top of my game constantly. I had no time to be sick or worried about me potentially having a caffeine overdose. So I stopped taking my ADHD meds so I could drink more coffee. Without the Adderall counterbalancing the caffeine, I was just hyper. Hyper is a light term, let’s call it being “high.” Caffeine makes me happy albeit artificial. Coffee, in general, is not a bad thing. I am not against coffee in any way. However, it makes me very hyper, and I become a different human being altogether. But since I love myself, and my friends, I choose to not put myself in that situation where I can potentially make some bad mistakes. Sure, I can blame it on the coffee, but is that really the best way to do things? Probably not. Hence, I will stick to my decaf latte, thank you very much. But I’m not going to lie, I do miss the caffeine every once in a while though. http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/features/do-you-have-addictive-personality#1 1
I A M . . . A N A D D I C T
BY DEBBIE MASELA
A Dt o Dn e gI aCt iTv i Et y D Negative thoughts are addicting. It’s easier to look at the ugly because it’s glaring. Looking for positivity often takes a lot more work than people care to put in. So we walk around, moping, complaining, and feeling miserable. It’s easy to become addicted to negative thoughts because no one thinks of that as an addiction. In contrast to popular belief, it is possible to be addicted to negativity. Studies have shown that people who have seen intense negativity during the early stages of life may develop an addiction to negative experiences as adults. (https://www.ncbi.nlm. nih.gov/pubmed/1763149) These “negative experiences” are not simply just being addicted to drugs, alcohol, or sex. Its looking in the mirror and repeatedly telling yourself that you don’t like what you see. It’s feeding yourself with morsels of negative information and running with it to everyone who will listen. It’s throwing yourself into toxic relationships with friends or significant others. There are more ways to kill your soul than excessive drugs and alcohol. In the study mentioned above, researchers could almost always find the origins of the patient’s addiction to negativity manifested in childhood and persisted throughout life. These manifestations express themselves in inability to experience pleasure, attachment to physical pain (cutting, burning, or pinching of one’s own body), the fear of being successful (consciously or subconsciously sabotaging opportunities to succeed), masochism (experiencing pleasure from pain), deprivation of self and others, or voyeurism.
BY RECHELLE-LEE SMITH
I know, I know. You’re probably screaming that all of this sounds bleak, but there’s hope! By doing a few simple-ish things each day, you’ll find yourself thinking more positively. 1. Remember that most people really don’t care what you say or do. It’s easy to think negatively when you think everyone is watching you and will notice when you fail. The truth is ain’t nobody got time for that! It’s okay to mess up because your audience consists of your friends, family, and loved ones and they’ll love you regardless. 2. Replace the negativity that you find yourself surrounded with. Be aware of negative vibes that people, places, entertainment, or social media gives you. Find ways to spend less time with the negative things. Replace those things with more positive things. 3. Let it out. It’s okay. Negative thoughts, aren’t avoidable but there are ways to keep negative thoughts from overtaking your mind. Talk to someone about them. Just venting for a few minutes often adds clarity to situations you couldn’t see through before. 4. Live in the moment. Dedicate time to living without having to post it somewhere. Look through your window. Laugh at some obnoxious joke your friend makes. Dance wildly to your favorite song. Bathe in the love of those positive people in your life. Let them know that you appreciate. Breathe and enjoy it. Love the vision you see in the mirror. Because the fact that you exist is something that should be celebrated every day. Truly. I know that it looks simple but trust me, implementing these things into one’s daily life can often prove to be difficult, but know that it is possible. You owe it to yourself to see the bright side of life.
A D D I C T E D T O N E G AT I V I T Y
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Some of my fondest music memories as a kid are of the car rides to school when my dad let my brother and I each pick a Beatles song to play. The song that I picked most often as a kid was “I am a Walrus”, I loved it for its catchy, fantastical chorus; “I am the egg man/ They are the egg men/ I am the walrus/ Goo goo g’joob.” I especially loved shouting out that “Goo goo g’joob.” However, I always wondered why is he the walrus? Who in the world is the eggman? What is an eggman? The answer is that it’s all gibberish, meaningless, a song conceived by John Lennon during an acid-trip. You see, my dad raised my brother and I on classic rock as kids instead of The Backstreet Boys and The Spice Girls. Our radio was always tuned to “Classic Rock 101”, playing bands like Queen, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin. However, there was one thing my dad said about these bands that I won’t forget, it was that as much as we love their music and their talent, we don’t admire their lifestyles, lifestyles full of acid-trips. These were bands from the 60’s and 70’s, eras of psychedelic drugs and hippies stoned out of their minds.
ACID RAP: drugs & addiction in popular music
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Drugs and alcohol are somewhat glorified in the music business and become part of many star-studded artists as they climb the ranks of popularity. Substance becomes part of their glamourous lifestyles, but many artists’ experimentation with drugs lead to addiction. For other artists, drugs become an escape from the pressures they endure constantly being in the limelight. Some may have heard of something called the “27 Club”, it is the term used to describe an unusual number of popular musicians that have died at the age of 27, typically to drug abuse. Three popular names in this group include legendary left-handed guitarist Jimi Hendrix, who died from an overdose.
ACID RAP: DRUGS & ADDICTION IN POPULAR MUSIC
Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of punk-rock idols Nirvana, committed suicide after being released form drug-rehabilitation. Most recently, the reviver of soul music, Amy Winehouse died from of alcohol-poisoning. I remember jamming out to Amy Winehouse’s hit “Rehab”, a song about her not needing it, and thinking I would never get tired of a voice like that, but it was gone before we knew it. For there to be so many deaths at 27 that we have a “club” is truly tragic, artists with so much potential and talent lost to drugs at such a young age. Fifty years after John Lennon’s acid-trip brought us I Am a Walrus, acid helped Chance the Rapper in the creation of his second mixtape, Acid Rap. This critically-acclaimed mixtape showcased Chance’s talent and uniqueness, providing him with an audience that couldn’t wait to see what he would do next. Three years after Acid Rap, he blew his fans away with the release of his third mixtape Coloring Book, the mixtape that would beat out two of today’s biggest rappers, Drake and Kanye, to win the Grammy for Best Rap Album of the Year this past year, all without charging a single dollar. However, this mixtape is miles away from the psychedelic-infused Acid Rap, it is much closer to Kirk Franklin than it is to Chance the Rapper on acid. Something many fans may not know is that after Acid Rap’s success, Chance took his fame to Hollywood where he became addicted to Xanax, an over-the-counter drug used for anxiety and sleeping disorders. He was tripping off Xanax every day and wasn’t making any music, so he dropped the drugs, and moved back to Chicago. In a verse he did last year for Snakeship’s “All My Friends”, he sates, “Hip hop and the propaganda say they name brand, I
done seen how the Xan did my main man” and “Dying is for real, ****** dying off of pills.” The first line refers to the way hip-hop often makes drugs glamorous, but Chance has seen its effects in his life. Chance the Rapper said that, “Kids would tell me they tried acid for the first time listening to Acid Rap, asking me if I wanted some. I realized the responsibility of being a popular artist.” There is a huge responsibility to being a popular artist, everyone wants to be them, they want to wear what they wear, but they also want to smoke what they smoke. I am a big fan of the Beatles, but I’m also a big fan of Kanye, but I’m not a big fan of the lives they lead or the messages they promote at times. I’m not here to tell you that you need to erase all your music that isn’t Kirk Franklin or at least feature him. I’m here to tell you to enjoy your music for what it means to you in your life, not based on the decisions these artists make. As for me I will always sing along to “I Am a Walrus”. BY REGAN ZAP
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As of right now all Burman University students, including myself, have or are or will be in violation of campus substance abuse policy and will be suspend from school until our situations are assessed by campus leadership and other proper authorities. I realize that at such a vulnerable time when we are all pushing our brains to inch that grade up as far as we can in the last weeks of semester and when some are to be graduating and moving into jobs and further education that this news could not be more ill-timed. Are you ready for the word? The word is—glue. I will give you the heart of the matter directly from page 2 of the Burman University Substance Abuse
Policy
(http://www.burmanu.ca/sites/default/
files/Substance%20Use_0.pdf), updated as of a mere 8 years ago on March 4, 2009: “No person may possess, use, produce, sell or distribute alcohol or other mind-altering substances, or possess paraphernalia for the purpose of drug use. The terms “al-
BLANKET S TAT E M E N T S F O R SLEEPING BAG PROBLEMS:
cohol, drugs and other substances” shall be construed to refer to as... inhalable substances (such as gases, solvents, butane, propane, adhesives)...” As I may rightly surmise at this point you are thinking to yourself or, if you are high on glue or pinesol, muttering out loud to yourself while walking through the cafeteria with only your underwear on—“For (insert preferred deity here)’s sake, I went through all that suspense to find out that one part of one policy is a little indescript?”
how campus policies are causing addiction and
The frivolity communicated here is not meant to downplay the harmfulness of substance abuse and the attached
hurting those in need
addictions. My little experiment in semantics is meant
of help
our campus faces today: we, as students, are one mistake
to highlight a deeper and much more difficult dilemma away from suspension and possible expulsion.
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BURMAN’S DRUGS POLICY
To be fair, all over the policy statements and the student
3) You are not considered an adult when you are off cam-
handbook you will find the theme of redemptive disci-
pus. If you live in the dorm you sign a specific agreement
pline and the clearly communicated commitment to help
for that situation, however anyone else living outside
us through challenges and issues we face in our lives.
campus is also subject to rules on substance use. Why do we want rules that cannot be informed? We know
Let us set this out honestly and diligently; according to
that students come from tons of backgrounds, there are
the substance abuse policy if you turn yourself in and
students on the weekend going to bars, attending wed-
admit that you have been using prohibited substances
dings, having dinner, any of these places are occasions
and/or you have or are developing an addiction to them
where a bear or two is consumed, a glass of wine is joined
you will be giving more leniency than if you are caught.
with a light camobert and crackers platter, a champagne
Honestly that is a double standard. In due diligence, you
or double whisky shot is toasted to the bride and groom
may be allowed to return to school if you are caught with
depending on how many trucks are parked outside and if
drugs or under the influence of drugs but you are first
at least one table is mostly wearing some form of camou-
immediately suspended based on the physical evidence
flage; yet this is not allowed, period. 4)The idea of harm
or on a positive drug test. If you are suspected by any fac-
reduction where someone addicted to opioids is treated
ulty or staff on campus of taking any drugs you must take
as diseased and needing help and not as a criminal to be
a drug test. Refusal is a positive result and a non-com-
ejected from regular society immediately is never men-
pliance based positive or an actual positive result is the
tioned. What other reasons why policy decisions and lan-
afore mentioned immediate suspension and referral to
guage matters to you do you see in play here?
the disciplinary committee. Good news is if you are on the basketball team you will still be allowed to play in the
When you are afraid or confused about what will happen
championship a few days later if caught at an off-campus
if you step into the light and allow others in positions of
party where there is alcohol.
disciplinary power to know of your struggle or addiction, you may consider remaining hidden. Unclear parameters
Why does this matter to you? Reasons abound like plati-
of what is and is not allowed and the promise of imme-
tudes from the pulpit; a few I see popping out I will share
diate suspension make that option of hiding even more
as concisely as possible. 1) When language is unclear, the
lucrative. If you have the unfortunate opportunity to be
expectations are unclear, and discipline will be harmful
caught before you disclose voluntarily, your situation
and misguided. You can assume only so much, maybe it
only gives creedance to others to keep secret struggles
is felt that it is a given that stick glue and butane for camp-
locked away. Hence in trying to mitigate substance use
ing stoves is an exception, but there is no attempt to make
on campus, Burman policy makers are actually perpet-
that evident. 2) As much as school leadership discourag-
uating addiction and addiction in hiding is where over-
es us from being under blankets more than one person at
doses happen, where diseases are past, and where people
a time, these types of policies are putting a blanket over
are lost forever. We need to move away from the focus
us all. You can read through all the policies online (http://
on drawing lines not to be crossed instead of extending
www.burmanu.ca/studentservices/policies).
circles to include more people.
BY ERIC ANDERSON
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Drugs and those who use it have stories to tell. Some stories are told to spread awareness, others are told to spread creativity. Ideally when I looked up drugs within art I wasn’t sure what I would find but the two sites I stumbled upon did not disappoint. The first was found on www.addictionandart.org, a website created to “stimulate dialogue, can teach, and at this crucial point in history, can support contemporary scientific research for our world’s well-being.” Here they exhibited works from recovering addicts and those who were affected by others who used drugs. These two being my favourite from the site:
“0 Refills Left” by Derek S. Cumings “Some will not see the juxtaposition if they only see medication as a tool of help. I hope most see medication as the double-edged sword it has become. Why don’t we
DRUGS: mastering the medium
secure medicine cabinets half as well as gun cabinets?”
“I’m Dying for a Smoke” by Marie Balla “The one addiction society is numb to is tobacco smoking. ‘Death sticks,’ ‘cancer sticks,’ ‘tar fix’ are all slang terms I’ve learned from cigarette smokers. Maybe it’s the very slow, internal, unnoticeable effects of nicotine addiction that seem angelic in comparison to meth or coke addiction?”
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DRUGS: MASTERING THE MEDIUM
While some might see art as a way to spread social awareness of addiction others find art as a way to show the effects of drugs on the brain. Bryan Lewis Saunders, an artist in his late 40’s from Virginia had explored everything from tragedy to social problems to personality assessment and eventually drugs. He began to create self-portraits of him on various drugs. The reason being? “After experiencing drastic changes in my environment, I looked for other experiences that might profoundly affect my perception of self.” The article on him on alternet.org picked 30 of some of his portraits. A lot were kind of disturbing so I chose some of his tame works. This being said, though drugs are in no way the best for humans, seeing how they physically can change the outlook of art is interesting to say the least.
Morphine
Xanax/Abilify/Ativan
Adderall
Ambien
251-NBOMe
Valium
BY ZAHARA MCGANN
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THE TURNING POINT In 2016 the province of Alberta experienced 343 overdose deaths related to fentanyl. With 84 of these deaths occurring in the Central Alberta region it is important that we as a community start an open and honest dialogue on a topic that is hard to discuss. What is alcohol and drug use? What is addiction? Why are some people more susceptible than others? What can we do to support people struggling with their addiction?
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THE TURNING POINT
Dr. Gabor Mate is a physician who worked for 12 years in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, a location regarded as the drug capital of Canada, also home to INSITE, North America’s first legal supervised injection service. He has said, “The wondrous power of a drug is to offer the addict protection from pain while at the same time enabling her to engage the world with excitement and meaning,” which leads him to then state, “The question is never “Why the addiction?” but “Why the pain?”. This is a hard question to ask, and equally as hard to answer. One of
Naloxone, sometimes referred to as narcan is another form of harm reduction, as it is a drug that when given to someone experiencing an opioid overdose is able to temporarily stop the overdose. The Alberta government made naloxone available to the province in 2015 with no costs associated. This means you can go to your local pharmacy to access a kit if you or someone you know is using drugs. Of course while this is a great initiative, it is only a band-aid solution. The real solutions come from having open conversations around drug use, making treatment
the least helpful things to do is to shame someone for their addiction(s). If you cannot help someone, at least do not hurt them.
such as opioid replacement therapy and residential addictions treatment facilities more accessible to people, and to pressure our governments to implement evidence - based policy.
The Turning Point Society of Central Alberta is the local harm reduction charity serving the Central Alberta region. Harm reduction is an ideology aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with risky behaviour. At Turning Point we use harm reduction strategies and ideas to reduce the risk for people who use drugs, people who are street involved, those living with HIV and Hepatitis C, as well as those who are experiencing homelessness. However, harm reduction exists outside of our agency as well. For example, I am not a proponent of car accidents, but I believe using seatbelts is a good preventative strategy. I also believe in applying sunscreen before going outside on a summer day in an attempt to prevent melanoma. Hardhats and other forms of personal protective equipment such as steel toes boots are also forms of harm reduction. Since July 2015, Turning Point has distributed 2026 naloxone kits. It took 16 months to reach 1000 kits distributed, and only another 3.5 months to reach 2000.
In the meantime there are things you can do to decrease your risks associated with partying. It is recommended not to mix drugs and alcohol, or even different types of drugs (like ups and downs). Never use alone, and do not binge. Limit your intake and if someone you know is experiencing an overdose or alcohol poisoning do not hesitate to call 911. For more information on current drug trends and overdose prevention please attend our presentation happening on April 6th at the Mary C. Moore Public Library in Lacombe. This presentation starts at 6:30 and we are hoping to educate as many people as we can. If you are unable to attend then please do not hesitate to stop by the Turning Point office in downtown Red Deer for the opportunity to talk with our staff, or contact me directly at 403-396-0018. Danna Hall Rural Outreach Educator Turning Point Society of Alberta On Facebook as OutreachWorker Turning Point www.turningpoint.rocks BY DANNA HALL
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CANADIAN DRUG CRISIS: dr ug abuse is closer to home than you think! Substance abuse is on the rise worldwide and Canada is not immune. Here are some Canadian statistics on drug and alcohol abuse: · 47,000 Canadian deaths are linked to substance abuse annually. Health Officer’s Council of British Columbia · Substance abuse has cost our health care system $8 billion. Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse · 10% of night time drivers showed evidence of drug use while only 8.1% tested positive for alcohol. Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse · For every $5 spent on drug rehabilitation by the Canadian government, $95 is spent on incarceration of drug users. Health Officer’s Council of BC · 60% of illicit drug users in Canada are between the ages of 15 and 24. Statistics Canada · UN Office on Drugs and Crime found 16.8% of Canadians aged 15 to 64 smoked marijuana or used other cannabis products. CBC News · Among the over 100,000 drug-related incidents identified by police in 2007, 62% involved cannabis. Of these, three-quarters were for possession. Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse · In its 2008 annual report on organized crime, Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC) states that Canada has become one of the primary source countries in the world for ecstasy. Statistics Canada · In its 2008 annual report on organized crime, Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC) states that Canada has become one of the primary source countries in the world for ecstasy. Statistics Canada · Between 1991 and 2007, opioid-related deaths doubled in Ontario. Globe and Mail · In a 2008 study, 23% of 14 year-olds and 70% of 17 year-olds in Saskatchewan reported drinking 5 or more drinks within a 2-hour period at least once in the past month. Government of Saskatchewan Department of Health · Street youth are 11 times more likely to die of drug overdose and suicide. Public Health Agency of Canada
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S TAT S
One morning, I remember being so upset about not being able to have had a decent phone conversation that I was sitting on my room counter by my window complaining to God about my unfortunate situation. I remember ranting and rambling and complaining like a child who didn’t receive the gift they wanted for Christmas. It was sad and kind of funny now that I think about it. Finally, when my loud complaints subsided I got quiet and that’s where I was really able to hear what God had to say about it. I remember looking out to the lake view and all of a sudden thinking, “if this is how I feel, I wonder how
FIST BUMPS WITH JESUS “I’ll call you later okay?”, “I’m just a bit busy right now”, “I’m sorry, I can’t talk right now” are just some of the phrases I’ve heard more often this past week than before. Long distance relationships are hard. Seeing that the summer is fast approaching, I recommend you truly consider whether long distance is something you’re down for, but for now, that’s a whole other conversation. Anyways, being two whole time zones apart, coordinating phone calls with moments where the other isn’t busy or where the other isn’t falling asleep is always a bit of a challenge. This week, we’ve both been busier than ever and not going to lie, I’ve been more sad, frustrated, and annoyed at the lack of extensive communication I generally prefer.
BY ANGELICA CORNEJO
God feels when I neglect to simply talk to Him.” My heart sunk. Too many times have I remembered that I forgot to thank God for waking me up this morning or seeing my Bible or devotional and saying, “eh, I’ll get to it later”. I had never thought about my relationship with God that way but imagine how much frustration, sadness, and patience God goes through in simply waiting for a small hello from me? A small hello from you? He literally continues to wait for you despite your busy schedule and your busy life. I encourage you to take a moment to simply sit, think, and reflect. Take a moment to appreciate Him and to thank Him for all He does for you. Even if it’s a small prayer, talk to Him. Don’t neglect your relationship with God. Even if you may feel it’s too late to maybe even have a friendship with Him, never forget He has been waiting, waiting for you this whole time, patiently, with His arms wide open. P.S. If you’re wondering whether José and I were ever able to actually have a decent conversation after all the waiting and frustration ... yes. Thank the Lord we did. Here to encourage you always, Angelica
FIST BUMPS WITH JESUS
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In this season we put away our hallelujahs. How can I still the percolating greenness in my veins and hold all in a small clay vessel, waiting? Happiness is not helium, though my voice gurgles like a four-year-old dusted guilty with icing sugar. Deliberate, Aristotle loops a thread with Happiness is a certain sort of activity of the soul in accord with virtue and I clutch
this stone as I reel through bladed air and over ice tingling with the secret hope of sun and the siren call of seed catalogues in Alberta March, dotting carrot seeds into the furrows of May, then August’s aching lower back: trowels and blisters a weighty
wheelbarrow of delight. Swimming plush snow beneath a moon fogged without its song, still I hear rhizomes calling from below, entangling hallelujahs.
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L E N T
B Y S A R A H WA L L A C E
BY DEICY ALCUDIA
COMIC
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SECRET GARDEN: BUSA BANQUET 24
SECRET GARDEN
We got dressed up, ate food, solved a murder mystery, and looked fabulous all at the same time. That pretty much sums it up. Oh! And PRIZES. Lots of prizes. But I’ll go into a little more detail for those who maybe weren’t able to attend due to previous engagements, papers, exams, sickness, lack of enthusiasm, being a party pooper, etc. This year’s SA banquet was a murder mystery themed party set in a delicately decorated garden. Guests were welcomed into the Blindman Valley Agricultural Centre through a tunnel of twinkling lights and greenery. Our ears were blessed by romantic, classical pieces on strings and piano and sweet tooths more than satisfied by sugary treats. The exuberant hosts, Zahara (or Gretchen) and Daniel kept the guests laughing and entertained with games, while each table methodically analyzed the clues and plot line to identify the murderer and thief of the night. The stakes were high. Only the tables guessing the right perpetrators could have their names in the draw for the glorious Apple watch and Beats headphones. Turns out one table was luckier than all the rest–winning more than just those two top prizes. But there were more prizes than just those metal pieces of technology. Giftcards to Sephora, Zara, Footlocker and even Westjet were awarded to lucky bum winners that had their numbers picked. I’m not bitter at all. I’ll win something someday haha (I’ll win when I graduate in 3 weeks actually eyyy). With prizes all given out, candy consumed and bellies full of lasagna and salad, the jams started playing and the people got moving and grooving. You know the drill. It was what some may call, lit. Thank you SA once again! #MoreLife
BY CODRINA BASTON
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SECRET GARDEN
PHOTOS BY MARK EBAJO AND REGAN ZAP
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