cannabisnews.com: Straight Dope 





Straight Dope 
Posted by CN Staff on May 30, 2002 at 10:03:15 PT
By Solomon Jones
Source: Philadelphia Weekly 
I began using marijuana at 15. At least that's when I think I started. The reality is, I can't remember exactly when I began. Drugs do that to you. But I guess it was right around the time my friends and I started sending old men into liquor stores, delis and bars to buy Olde English 800 and Coqui 900 malt liquor. In looking at a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) study last month, it became apparent to me that my experience parallels the numbers. 
I started with alcohol and marijuana in my early teens, used for a few years, and then, in a progression that mirrors the pattern that is documented in the study, I moved on to harder drugs. By the time I was 20, I was getting bored with weed. So I started using cocaine. Snorting it, lacing joints with it, dropping it on my tongue and feeling the numbing sensation run through my body. When I decided to move on to crack, my addiction was full-blown. Drugs literally took over my life, so I went into treatment. Problem was, the treatment didn't work. Not for any length of time, anyway. Several treatments and a few relapses later, my addiction left me with virtually nothing--again. I had to start from scratch more times than I care to recall. When I finally understood that my addiction was killing me, when I finally stopped depending on treatment programs and started to depend on faith, perseverance and determination, when I finally made up my mind to stop, life got better. But I wasn't always so resolute. At my lowest point, I thought I would die an addict. And that sense of hopelessness began with marijuana and its trusty sidekick, alcohol. Legalization advocates claim that marijuana has medicinal uses, that it doesn't diminish I.Q. or memory capacity and that it has no long-term psychological or physiological effects. Depending on which studies you choose to believe, all those things may be true. But here's what I've learned through hard-won experience. Marijuana, which is most commonly used for a purpose no loftier than a cheap high, is a gateway drug. It leads those with addictive tendencies to other substances, and into the vicious cycle that is addiction--a cycle that ultimately leads to death. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a division of the National Institutes of Health, "long-term studies of high school students and their patterns of drug use show that very few young people use other drugs without first trying marijuana. The risk of using cocaine has been estimated to be more than 104 times greater for those who have tried marijuana than for those who have never tried it." That troubling assertion is mirrored by the SAMHSA study. The data, which covers 1999 treatment admissions, showed that on average, those who sought treatment for marijuana abuse began using the drug at 14. The average age at which they sought treatment was 22. The average age of first use for cocaine users was 23. They sought their first treatment for the drug, on average, at 34. The trend is evident. Addicts begin with alcohol (which consistently accounts for nearly half of all treatment admissions) and marijuana. And they often do so in their early teens. If, after a period of treatment, they determine that they will continue using, they move on to something harder, such as cocaine or heroin. And these drugs, in the hands of addicts, lead to dire consequences. The National Institute on Drug Abuse says researchers are examining the possibility that long-term marijuana use may produce changes in the brain that make a person more susceptible to becoming addicted to other drugs. I'd like to see the results. But something tells me I already know them. Though I've been clean for five and a half years now, though I've graduated from college with honors, written a couple of books, won a few awards, gotten married and moved on, I still remember where I came from. And I know that the slippery slope of addiction--for me, and indeed for many others--began with marijuana. So while some may think it hip to rationalize a problem that has ruined so many lives, I can't advocate the legalization of marijuana. And not just because my faith and my experience tell me it's wrong to abuse drugs of any kind. I won't advocate legalization because common sense won't let me do so. I won't because I'm not high these days. I won't because I don't need to be. And neither does anyone else. Source: Philadelphia Weekly (PA)Author: Solomon Jones Published: May 29, 2002 Volume XXXI, No. 22Copyright: 2002 Philadelphia WeeklyWebsite: http://www.phillyweekly.com/Contact: editmail philadelphiaweekly.comDL: http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/article.asp?ArtID=2411Related Article in Series:Smokey and The Bandit http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12992.shtmlMore Teens Treated for Addiction, Study Findshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11651.shtml
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Comment #21 posted by Sam Adams on June 01, 2002 at 09:33:47 PT
Nice Robbie!
Make sure your response gets sent to the editor, to be forwarded to Solomon!Your point about "claims made by legalizers" is interesting.Remember back during Viet Nam, when media screamed about "protesters spitting on veterans" as they came back from Nam? Some guy at Harvard did his thesis on this - as a study of Culture, Sociology, etc. He spent a year investigating every single claim in the media and by individuals who mentioned veterans getting spit on. He talked to every writer who mentioned, many people who protested in those days, and many veterans.In every single instance, it was always, "I heard so-and-so's friend got spit on". He would investigate and find the person didn't exist. After an entire year of research, he was unable to find ONE single person who was spit on, saw someone else get spit on, or actually did the spitting. All propaganda.
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Comment #20 posted by gloovins on May 30, 2002 at 23:46:46 PT
Ridiculous
*I won't advocate legalization because common sense won't let me do so. I won't because I'm not high these days. I won't because I don't need to be. And neither does anyone else*Yea, but what about those where using marijuana to SAVE THEIR LIVES (Steve Kubby & the late Peter McWilliams your view helped kill). And for the record, don't get really "high" anymore. Oh, maybe their alleviated. GOD NO! Ever heard of tolerance? It's what all medicinal users develop Solomon and what you need to get a crumb of you lazy jounrnalistic bigoted ass.
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Comment #19 posted by dddd on May 30, 2002 at 20:51:11 PT
Solomon Jones?
...Nice work Robbie........
.....I think that maybe Hope is right,,this is a phony tall tale,from some anti shithead on the ondcp payroll!..dddd.
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Comment #18 posted by Hope on May 30, 2002 at 20:42:28 PT
I'm going back to the very first impression I had 
when I read this thing. He made this all up! He just flat out made it up! I think he's lying, first to last!
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Comment #17 posted by Robbie on May 30, 2002 at 19:32:42 PT
Insipid (Pt. II)
And these drugs, in the hands of addicts, lead to dire consequences. You're the addict. Are you STILL trying to blame it on something, or someone, else?The National Institute on Drug Abuse says researchers are examining the possibility that long-term marijuana use may produce changes in the brain that make a person more susceptible to becoming addicted to other drugs.I'm sure they did. Though, they probably didn't mention that, as a consequence of prohibition of marijuana, harder, more dangerous drugs are much closer to some young kid simply "experimenting" with marijuana. Prohibitionists are to blame? What? I'd like to see the results. But something tells me I already know them. Though I've been clean for five and a half years now, though I've graduated from college with honors, written a couple of books, won a few awards, gotten married and moved on, I still remember where I came from. And I know that the slippery slope of addiction--for me, and indeed for many others--began with marijuana.BULL-fritters!By the way, you started by doing alcohol, then marijuana, then cocaine, then crack. Now you're a successful, married man, with a grat career, and a couple of books. And you went through school and got top honors, ostensibly drunk and high... Say, can I use you as the poster child for "Why People Should Use Drugs"? Your story would inspire millions.So while some may think it hip to rationalize a problem that has ruined so many lives,You wouldn't know hip if it was attached to you.I can't advocate the legalization of marijuana. And not just because my faith and my experience tell me it's wrong to abuse drugs of any kind....but, because I'm an addict, and an idiot. I won't advocate legalization because common sense won't let me do so.That same common sense that got you hooked in the first place?I won't because I'm not high these days. I won't because I don't need to be.And neither does anyone else.That's YOUR opinion, asshole! I didn't wake up one day and find myself living under a totalitarian dictatorship. If you don't like drugs, DON'T USE THEM. It's not your place to tell anyone else what they can and cannot do, especially considering you're an alcoholic junkie./rant OFFBlood my boiled. Sorry for the language.
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Comment #16 posted by Robbie on May 30, 2002 at 19:31:21 PT
I can't help it...this article is insipid (Pt I)
I began using marijuana at 15. At least that's when I think I started. The reality is, I can't remember exactly when I began.Sounds like a bad capacity for memory then. I remember the exact date, time, and circumstance that I first smoked the "evil weed".Drugs do that to you.To YOU, apparently.But I guess it was right around the time my friends and I started sending old men into liquor stores, delis and bars to buy Olde English 800 and Coqui 900 malt liquor.Ahh, so your first addiction was alcohol. Better run out and prohibit its use. In looking at a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) study last month, it became apparent to me that my experience parallels the numbers. (see comment below about studies) I started with alcohol and marijuana in my early teens,Wait a second, is your memory that bad? You just said 15. And how do you "start" with alcohol and marijuana? So, one night you were feeling particularly frisky and decided to do it all at once? Did you have sex that night, too? Listen to your first rock and roll record? Oh, I forgot, you don't remember.for a few years, and then, in a progression that mirrors the pattern that is documented in the study, I moved on to harder drugs.Seems to me that you were on that road to begin with. By the way, if you "used" for a few years, does that mean that you were an alcoholic? Maybe THAT's the gateway.By the time I was 20, I was getting bored with weed.You were getting bored with it? I assume that means you were getting bored with alcohol as well...?So I started using cocaine.Been smoking pot for 20 years and I've done cocaine once. Again, I guess the problem is YOURS and people like you.Snorting it, lacing joints with it, dropping it on my tongue and feeling the numbing sensation run through my body. When I decided to move on to crack, my addiction was full-blown.I would guess your addiction started at your mother's teat.Drugs literally took over my life, so I went into treatment. Problem was, the treatment didn't work. Not for any length of time, anyway.So you went into treatment knowing that you would flunk out of it. No wonder you kept going. Several treatments and a few relapses later, my addiction left me with virtually nothing--again.Not entirely nothing (see below)I had to start from scratchWhat does that mean in this situation? What is scratch point? That first rock after 3 weeks of being clean?
more times than I care to recall.I thought you couldn't recall.When I finally understood that my addiction was killing me, when I finally stopped depending on treatment programs and started to depend on faith, perseverance and determination, when I finally made up my mind to stop, life got better.Again...guess what? You only tried to quit when you did. Blaming your continuing usage on bad treatment is the addict's way out of responsibility. But I wasn't always so resolute.Obviously.At my lowest point, I thought I would die an addict. And that sense of hopelessness began with marijuana and its trusty sidekick, alcohol.See there's that "marijuana and..." bit again. So did you start with alcohol or marijuana? Make up your addled mind. Legalization advocates claim that marijuana has medicinal uses,It does..many, certified, time-tested that it doesn't diminish I.Q. or memory capacityActually, I don't ever remember hearing anyone of the legalization side ever say it didn't lower IQ. That's probably the prohibitionists claiming legalizers said something they didn't actually say, which is not new to us. We probably did say there was no proof either way. The recent study that said that IQ was lowered up to 4 or 5 points is specious, since the standard deviation in testing is usually more than 5 points. As for memory capacity? Well, I think we know what happened to your memory...alcohol and cocaine.and that it has no long-term psychological or physiological effects.Again, I remember no legalization advocates claiming that. It's been years since studies revealed some, and I mean SOME, debilitation for long-term, heavy users. Even then, physical damage outside of the tars and other toxics inhaled has never been quantified.Depending on which studies you choose to believe, all those things may be true.Now here's the real kicker. That statement is completely ludicrous. That one sentence opens up questions about the claims of legalizers, true, but it also undercuts any faith you have in the research mentioned earlier and later on. Good job! Quit recently?But here's what I've learned through hard-won experience. Marijuana, which is most commonly used for a purpose no loftier than a cheap high,For YOU, perhaps. is a gateway drug. It leads those with addictive tendencies to other substances, and into the vicious cycle that is addiction--a cycle that ultimately leads to death.Birth ultimately leads to death. And if we stick to your reasoning, it obviously didn't take you down to Potter's field. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, uh-oh...one a dem studies a division of the National Institutes of Health, "long-term studies of high school students and their patterns of drug use show that very few young people use other drugs without first trying marijuana.And absolutely NO one ever does any drugs without first having had milk.The risk of using cocaine has been estimated to be more than 104 times greater for those who have tried marijuana than for those who have never tried it."So, your contention is that people who have a predisposition to use illegal drugs will generally start with the widest available illegal drug? Whoo-hoo! It's an epiphany! That troubling assertion is mirrored by the SAMHSA study. uh huh The data, which covers 1999 treatment admissions, showed that on average, those who sought treatment for marijuana abuse began using the drug at 14.Not I.The average age at which they sought treatment was 22.Please, show me the data. Prove that a large majority (any majority...hell, even a large minority) of these "marijuana treatment" cases were initiated by the users. They weren't. They got busted and "decided to seek treatment instead of going to jail".The average age of first use for cocaine users was 23. They sought their first treatment for the drug, on average, at 34. The trend is evident.To YOU, and those that would gleefully subscribe to that point of view.Addicts begin with alcohol (which consistently accounts for nearly half of all treatment admissions) and marijuana.It's probably more than that. Nice selective use of the terms, though. You certainly wouldn't want to blame your problems on alcohol. You might get fired.And they often do so in their early teens. If, after a period of treatment, they determine that they will continue using, they move on to something harder, such as cocaine or heroin.You really should be more careful about contradicting yourself. Earlier you said you went to treatment, but that failed. Well, if you "after a period of treatment, determined that you would continue using" that would pretty much seal-up the fact that you never intended to quit in the first place.
March against idiots like this, June 6th!
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Comment #15 posted by qqqq on May 30, 2002 at 18:57:50 PT
....I Get It....
...The articles' title is not meant to mean "straight dope",like "real story",,,,,nope,,it's meant to mean "straight dope",as in ;"well behaved dope",,or retentive idiot!..The author is referring to himself.
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Comment #14 posted by Robbie on May 30, 2002 at 18:19:43 PT
I have NO sympathy for this idiot
If somebody can't handle the drugs they use, they should quit. And after that, they should beat their own heads in for being so stupid. That doesn't mean that everyone else has problems, and the experiences of those that couldn't handle it should not weigh upon laws governing other people's usage.Pity, pity, poor Mary, but don't come crying to me.
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Comment #13 posted by overtoke on May 30, 2002 at 16:21:11 PT:
Poor Addict
Someone put this guy out of his misery. At least tell him where he went wrong so the fool doesnt give other fools fuel for the foolish.
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Comment #12 posted by MDG on May 30, 2002 at 15:49:55 PT
dimebag, your problem is apparent...
you've been smoking bowels full of weed! I imagine that just adds to the shit smell! Thanks for the laugh!
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Comment #11 posted by dimebag on May 30, 2002 at 15:01:57 PT
Does Some one Smell Bull Shit?
Im a current user of Cannibus, and Have been for several years now. I will be the first to admit that cannibus has had an effect on my short term memory, but thats because I smoked pot every day for 3 years. After those three years I found myself becomming the Typical Pot Head. Slow, and un motivated. But then I realized, Wait, I dont want to be like this any more. So I stopped altogether for about 6 months. Thats when I noticed my motor skills back fully operational, and I could run more than a block without Falling to the ground, gasping for air. I did start up again after that six months, but only at like a bowel a day. And Some days I would skip, just cuz I didnt feel the need. Im Grade A %100 better, and I can honestly say Due to my education on Drugs I have never fallen into the Trap or the Gateway Theroy. As a matter of fact, I tried LSD before Pot. It was great, but the thing about LSD is that its not always around. I havnt seen the stuff in 2 years. I would do it again, if it were there, I would not do it every weekend for fear of becoming stupid. And Furthurmore I have learned from other peoples mistakes. I will never do Cocaine, Heroine, Opium, Crack. Just Mainly because I dont want to end up like our friend Soloman. So If you want to fuck your life over, then Do crack and Heroin. And please who ever says pot leads to Other Drugs, They are misinformed. Its Miseducation that Leads to Hard Drugs.
Tell People that Heroin is Just as bad As Pot and they will do heroin because ther are IGNORANT.Dimebag.
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Comment #10 posted by Hope on May 30, 2002 at 12:51:49 PT
I hate being harsh or hard on anyone
but this guys sounds like the typical "Dip", looking for something or someone to blame all his problems on instead of taking responsibility for his own choices. He couldn't help it! Marijuana made him do it! He's even "stupid" because he smoked pot! Good grief! 
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Comment #9 posted by Sam Adams on May 30, 2002 at 12:38:29 PT
yeah right pal
Because you're weak and lack any willpower, the government must send its armed thugs against me, someone who has my life completely in order? Cannabis is already illegal anyway, SOLOMON - maybe you should set your sights on alcohol, which is legal and fully advertised. But I guess when you're stupid and weak-minded it's easier to pick on someone who's already being persecuted by an enormous, militarized corporate/government establishment.
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Comment #8 posted by Druid on May 30, 2002 at 11:48:04 PT:
WOW
Next year I will be 34 and it will mark my 20th anniversary of being friends with Cannabis. I don't drink alcohol(anymore), I don't use tobacco(anymore), I don't use any other drugs not even aspirin unless I have a very very very bad headach that sometimes pot will make worse instead of better but that is rare. I just don't understand these people who claim Cannabis is a gateway drug. Most people I used to smoke with have quit and gone on their normal lives or they still smoke and go about thier normal lives. I really don't anyone after high school who even "experimented" with harder drugs. It boggles the mind. I am in a successful professional career and I am proud to be a Cannabis user. My wife also is a Cannabis user and uses it illegally to treat her depression since we happen to live in a state that doesn't have a medical marijuana law. By the way cannabis does more for her depression than prozac ever did and without the sexual side effects!I am sorry to read about this guy having so many problems in life and maybe his cannabis use did exacerbate his problems but the fact remains that cannabis didn't cause them anymore than alcohol causes a guy to be a wife beater. The underlying problem was there all along ....Friend Solomon I remember the first time I used Cannabis plain as day. Your remark about "The reality is, I can't remember exactly when I began. Drugs do that to you." sounds more like a personal problem than a fact. I remember the first time I tried pot and the second and the third and the fourth and the fifth and especiall the sixth time because that is the time that I got high for the first time. It's been close to 20 years and the memory is not in the least bit fuzzy. I hope you can find yourself oneday my friend. It sounds like you are on a good path but please don't make your personal struggle in life everymans struggle because even though there are quite a few people just looking to get more and more fucked about beyond belief there are more people who use cannabis sociably, spiritually, and in moderation. I am always one to whine "not fair! not fair!" because I happen to be an alcoholic. But I don't go around blaming alcohol for my alcoholism it's something in ME not in the alchol that makes me an alcoholic. If Cannabis had been legal I would never had encountered the problems in life I had encountered trying to find something that wasn't there in the bottom of a shot glass...ok ok enough of my rant for the day :)
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Comment #7 posted by observer on May 30, 2002 at 11:47:27 PT
Oops! forget to mention JAIL, Again
Note the way the bogeyman of "legalization" is attacked. Not one word about jailing people. That was no accident. Prohibitionists like to rail against 'legalization' (sadly reformers fall into their trap), where 'legalization' is taken to mean, "using marijuana at 15" etc.As reformers, we must rub their noses in the "jail" part of it, for the same reasons drug warriors seek to dismiss that little detail.Evidently as this prohibitionist "started to depend on faith, perseverance and determination", his "faith" did not include honestly telling the whole story. (He left out the little "prison" part.) 4th century St. John Chrysostom (345-407), Bishop of Constantinople: "I hear man cry, 'Would there be no wine! O folly! O madness!' Is it wine that causes this abuse? No, for if you say, 'Would there were no light!' because of the informers, and would there were no women because of adultery." [Quoted in Berton Roueche, *The Neutral Spirit*, pp. 150-151] 
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Comment #6 posted by cltrldmg on May 30, 2002 at 11:21:02 PT
NIDA
"The National Institute on Drug Abuse says researchers are examining the possibility that long-term marijuana use may produce changes in the brain that make a person more susceptible to becoming addicted to other drugs. "This is what really depressed me. What a waste of money for such an obviously bullshit experiment. It's true that your brain chemistry could be the cause of how susceptible you are to addiction but there are thousands of addictive behaviors you could test, a lot of them not even due to drugs. Why do they decide to concentrate only on marijuana? That kind of unscientific experiment won't be able to prove anything, it's all politics.
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Comment #5 posted by krutch on May 30, 2002 at 11:07:54 PT:
Cop Out
Hey Solomon,Don't blame pot for your personal weakness. Face the simple fact that you are an addict. Almost every one I know who smokes pot uses no other drug but perhaps tobacco and beer. Pot did not make you do coke, some weakness in your personality is the culprit.You say your slip down the slope began with MJ, but it sounds more like it began with malt liquor. Look at your opening paragraph and try to apply some logic. You are incapable of taking drugs sensibly. The outcome would have been the same no matter what drug you started your journey with. You are not taking responsiblity for the path that you chose. You are blaming the pot instead of yourself.Meanwhile, several studies have shown that the gateway theory is wrong. Of course The National Institute on Drug Abuse feels the need to revisit this, because they don't like the results of the study.Illegal pot exposes the buyer to a drug dealer who may also deal harder drugs. Legalizing pot would prevent this exposure. Frankly, I think all drugs should be legal. If you want to poison yourself that is your decision. It is not the goverment's purpose to be your Mommy. Some people can do the drugs that you are addicted to and not become addicted. I am living proof of this. It would be easier for me to list the drugs I did not take as a teenager. I have done everything at one time or another. I am not and never was addicted to anything but tobacco.I have no sympathy for those who become addicted. They can get straight or get the hell out of the gene pool. The same is true if someone drinks too much booze, or eats too much junk food. If I die at 40 from eating junk food it does not mean that the government should make candy illegal. It is my fault, not the junk food's fault. Ditto if the cigarettes kill me. I knew the risks. I chose the path.
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Comment #4 posted by tcell on May 30, 2002 at 10:55:01 PT:
Car analogy
His argument is along the lines of "I can't drive without wrapping the car around a tree trunk. Therefore, no one should drive."I respect all he's been through, and I'm glad he's sober now, but his words are being used in the service of repression and totalitarianism. 
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Comment #3 posted by Dankhank on May 30, 2002 at 10:26:28 PT:
Another example ...
of someone who believes in the low-life principle ... and if HE sees the light, which he never will barring Cancer in him or a friend/relative, some in here will give him a break.Muddy the thinking with the garbage he spouts, but get a relative diagnosed with a terminal disease and he could easily change his tune.Wanna know why I'm angry?Check my website ...
Hemp N Stuff ...
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Comment #2 posted by Dark Star on May 30, 2002 at 10:25:09 PT
Association is Not Causation
I am pleased that the author enjoys his current life.However, this variation of "the marijuana made me do it" has no basis in fact. Temporal association does not mean causation. Might we not blame poverty, lack of suitable outlets in his life, or things that really matter? His opinions will not ring true for all, or even many who have been there and done that.
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Comment #1 posted by releafer on May 30, 2002 at 10:18:04 PT
Done that ....but I drew the line?????????????????
I can relate.......except for losing control. You crossed the line because of you stupid boring choice, which means you can't be trusted, which means you'll always be prey!!!Don't go towards the light, thats all I can tell ya!!
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