Collegegivesthefirsttasteoffreedom

　　AHAZYfogofsmokeblurstheviewondrugcultureanddruguseintheUK.Insidethisfog,politiciansandexpertsstumbleovertheirviews,whileusersareclearandcoherentaboutwhattheyenjoyandwhy.

　　And,inthemiddleofthefog–students,andlotsofthem.AccordingtotheHomeOffice,about30percentoftheBritishpopulationhaveusedillegaldrugs.Themajorityarebetweentheagesof16and24.FormanyUKstudents,universityistheirfirsttimeawayfromhomeandwheretheygetthefirsttasteoffreedom.Butitcomeswithpressure:theneedtosocialize,theneedtoworkandtheneedtobecool.

　　Theseneedshavecreatedtheperfectholeinpopularculturetoallowrelaxingdrugsin.Thelittleplasticbagsareespeciallyassociatedwiththatotherrelaxingpastime–music.

　　Ilikesongs,butonlylisteningtosongs.Ican’tevensingasongcorrectly!WhenIsangasongbefore,myvoiceissuchanoise-likethosebythewildcats.Butonce,myteacheraskedustoholdaCompetitiononEnglishSongs-–everyonehastosing.It’stoohardforme.Butasamonitor,Ihavetotry.

　　AlthoughIonlysang“HappyBirthday”atthefirstcompetition,Ikeptpracticingsingingduringnightandday–inallfreetimeandeverywhere:besidesclasses,whenIwastakingashower;whenIwaswalking;evenwhenIwasinthebed!Duringthattime,youcouldseemesingingsongseverytime,everywhere.Ihaveneverbeenascrazyasthat.Justlike“Nopains,nogains”,Isucceeded.WhenIsang“LemonTree”infrontofmyclassmates,Ifeltcontentedwiththeirsurpriseandacclaim,myfirsttasteisalsomypride.