I have a very strong opinion on drugs and alcohol and here it goes. If it's illegal you should not do it, period. And if it messes with your mind or health you should still not do it but if you are going to you should do so with caution. That said, I know everyone is different and I don't resent anyone for opposing these views.
I had to open with that so that you understand where I am coming from on this bad influence thing. I know when I was younger I was told to not be a bad influence on my little sister but now as life gets more serious I am actually wonder what makes someone a bad influence? Is it someone who pushes you to do those things? Or is it just merely someone who does those things around you? Or is it simply someone who you know doesn't oppose those things so its ok to do it around them?
Let me give you a couple examples. One of my best friends went to college with a similar moral code as me, she didn't drink, didn't do drugs, didn't hang around people who did. Now 1.5 years later does drink, did and sometimes still does do drugs, even got into some casual relationships with guys. Now from what she has told me she was never "pushed" into doing any of these things but just looking at who she hangs out with I can see that these friends of hers are doing the same things so I would definitely consider them a bad influence to her. But does that mean that if she had other friends she wouldn't have gotten into this stuff? I don't know.
My next example is another friend who shares my views on not doing illegal things but recently turned 21 so now it is not illegal for her to drink. Before she was 21 I had talked to her about excessive drinking and she agreed that people should not get drunk all the time. Now that she is 21 she gets drunk almost every week. Now here is where the question of bad influence comes in. Aside from on her 21st birthday she has never had a single drink while hanging out with me. But she has a friend who she pretty much spends all her time with when she is not hanging out with me or working and almost every time they get together they drink together. Now normally I would say that it is just as easily my friend influencing her but before my friend was 21 her friend (who is 20) was drinking just as much if not more then she is now. So, now that my friend is 21 not only does she drink all the time with this person but she is an accessory to a crime. This also makes me think that this person is a bad influence even is my friend is the one who suggests drinks some of the time.
So my question is, how do I help my friends? Can I? I know people have to make their own mistakes and learn from them but when drugs are involved I feel like not only is it a slippery slope to addiction but it threatening to the immediate health and as their friend I should help them.
Just as a note, I don't talk from some high moral ground. I have made plenty of mistakes and I am sure that I will make more.
-Sarah
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