6)“The New Thing” Situation
It seems that the
more people I talk to these days, the more I hear that
people are doing cocaine. This, for
some insane reason, is becoming the drug of choice
for many people our age. Amazingly, the vast majority of people that told
me that they had done coke say that they don’t know
what its harmful effects are. Not to mention most of these
people have no idea how big a deal getting
caught with coke is! Cocaine possession (in small amounts) is a CLASS 1 FELONY!
This isn’t a slap on the hand by any means and it could leave you with
jail time, a huge fine, and a record. So, now that we have you clued in on
a minor part of the seriousness of using and carrying coke, let’s get
into how you can weasel your way out of a difficult situation involving the
substance.
So, the situation that you are put in is that this is “the
new thing” to
do; the age-old condition that most everyone has had to deal with at least
once.
A good example often times occurs when you are with a
group of friends or people who you admire. You are hanging
out playing video games or watching
TV and
somebody pulls out a bag of cocaine (or any other drug). This is not
going to be an easy
situation to get out of. First of all, these are people that you enjoy
hanging
out with. Second, it does appear that everyone is into doing it and you
might catch some heat for not joining in. You have to think quickly.
If you’re
not interested, then move away from the area a little or just say you’re
getting a cold and don’t want to spread it. If that fails, here
are a couple of tricks to help you get out of a sticky situation.
ESCAPE
PLANS
Think of an escape plan. Much like those crazy fire escape
plans that you see at school, you too should have a quick
(but
hopefully uncomplicated)
exit plan.
Try offering to do something that will get you out of the house and
out of the area quickly. You may have to drop some dough on going
to get
some
pizza
(or
some other tasty treat), but it might just work.
Another easy exit
is to call someone and make up a fake conversation. Ask
if they still want to go to the movies, or dinner, or
skating, or whatever.
They
probably will be confused, but just keep right on talking like
they aren’t.
Act as if they have said that they are still interested in going
to the place and tell them you will meet them soon (10 minutes
might be reasonable).
A bit tougher is the get up and go
plan. Sometimes you might be
able to catch everyone off guard by just getting up and leaving.
Don’t say anything,
just get up and go. Hopefully it will leave everyone confused
enough that no one comes to get you, or maybe they will think
that you
are coming back.
An exit plan must always include an excuse to
the people, because you know that they are going to ask you
if you want to have some
on your
way out.
No, will
likely be an acceptable excuse.
EXIT TALK
As we said in this month’s issue of DASH
Magazine, it is okay to lie in these situations. Tell them
you have a date, tell them you would rather play
some video games or watch a movie, or tell them that they
suck and you would rather go find a wall to bang your head
against. Another great excuse is that
you have to get up really early for something and that coke
will keep you up. I have actually used the excuse that
I have to go poop really bad and I don’t
want to use their bathroom. Surprisingly this works very
well, because they don’t
want to argue for you doing that at their place either.
Whether you think that the situation will come up or not,
make sure you have your escape route planned and your exit
talk
rehearsed ahead
of
time.
