MARIJUANA POT IS SHOT!

Vance Ferrell

HERE ARE TWENTY-ONE REASONS TO STAY AWAY FROM-IT: 

GOING TO POT TWENTY-ONE WAYS-Yes,-twenty-one. Put your eyeball through them for a moment. All twenty-one are the real stuff.

BRAIN, TESTES AND OVARIES-

Pot has its preferences and these three are it. It puts a drag on them and dulls them for regular use.

Marijuana has 61 spectacular chemicals. They are called cannabinaids, for they are found only in the cannabis plant. Each one is soluble in fat. This means they like to go to the fatty organs of your body and stay there. It takes 5 to 8 days for half the THC in one joint to clear out. The remainder hangs around for months; some of it for years.

The human brain, testes and ovaries are especially high in fat content. So grass goes there, and much of it stays. Gradually, as it builds up, the memory begins to suffer; normal thinking becomes more shallow. When not up on a Jay the happy feelings of life seem drained out. The emotions don't seem to work right. Life becomes a bummer.

NERVE CELL CHANGES-

Pot changes brain cells. It changes them structurally; it changes how they act inside you.

Due to a number of interlocking effects of reefers, Marijuana works earnestly to put your mind back to that of a seven-year-old. It may not do it very fast, but it keeps working at it. In most cases it requires a number of months before the gradual changeover is obvious to others. But you won't know about it for you are part of the change. You probably will deny it is taking place.

WIDENING OF NERVE GAPS-Did you even know you had any? Well, they're there. Here is what is taking place inside you: 

Nerve impulses travel from nerve cell to nerve cell across little spaces called synoptic clefts. This space widens after taking marijuana. And more: The smoke from the weed slowly lays down abnormal deposits of solid material into those spaces.

DAMAGE TO CHEMICAL ACTIVATOR SACS-

More big words, but the damage is still there, and it isn't pleasant:

Each nerve cell in your body has attached to it several endings, or little threads. It is inside these endings, in little sacs, that the chemical activators for y()ur brain are located. Without them your mind cannot work right. The cannabinoids you breathe in when you smoke Marijuana do strange things to these small sacs. They begin clumping together. And then they start malfunctioning. Doesn't sound too good, does it?

LOADED NUCLEI-

The heart of each nerve cell in your body is its nucleus. And the nucleus has to stay clean in order to organize its work load:

But that grass smoke that people take into their lungs is pretty big stuff. The 61 chemicals travel to each and every nerve in their body and carry with them foreign matter into the nerve-cell nucleus, and then leave it behind as the cannabinoids gradually dissipate over the coming years. It is like handing the key over to a man to unlock the door of your house each day so he can dump garbage inside. But when he leaves, he takes the key with him. And how you are going to get all that rubbish back out is quite another matter. Lets face it; those 61 cannabinoids are smarter than you are. They can tear things up in ways that you cannot easily undo. A good plan is to lay off the weed now; the mess in your body will only be worse tomorrow.

SHORT-TERM MEMORY DAMAGE-

Well, you say, "What does a person need short-term memory for?" Let me tell you: it comes in very handy-every minute of the waking day. Short-term memory enables you to recall what you did half a minute ago, or on up to several days ago. Long-term memory is your memories of a number of years back. But the last 5 or 10 minutes can be the most critical for short-term memory loss. Short-term memory is more crucial than long-term in day-by-day work. Chronic pot smokers gradually lose short-term memory. Many have to drop out of school. They have to give up employment in which thinking and decision-making is required of them,-because they cannot recall the decision long enough to make sure it is carried out.

WANDER SYNDROME-

Over a period of time on Marijuana, the mind becomes disoriented enough in relation to feelings, enjoyments and regular living, so that many do not want to return to normal living.

They just start wandering. First, they wander around town. Never really knowing what they want to do or who they want to be with. No fixed purpose; No goals; And no real happiness. Just time for another stick, and off again down the road. Then the road lengthens and they leave home-base for other lands. But they take themselves with them. But they have nothing. You know people who are living this way. Is this what you want for your life?

JUDGMENT AND-COORDINATION IMPAIRMENT

 There is no question but that high doses taken frequently will impair mental judgment and coordination.

It is the THC in pot that does this. The principal psychoactive, or mind-altering, cannabinoid in Marijuana is a chemical by the name of 9-THC. What 9-THC does to your mental ability and coordination is no laughing matter. But because it works quietly, insidiously and slowly, you are not alerted to what is taking place within you. Radioactive tracing of 9-THC reveals that it normally requires 5 to 9 days for just half the 9-THC in a single marijuana cigarette to clear out of the body. The rest hangs around for a long time after that. And a sizable amount of it can stay with you for years. But research has proven that the damage can remain, even though the THC residue has finally been expelled.

DANGEROUS CONDUCT-

Outward conduct as a result of Marijuana inhalation is much more unpredictable than is the inner physical degeneration that takes place.

But dangerous conduct can and does occur. Who wants to go to prison because he gunned down a friend while under the influence of grass? Because of the vivid hallucinations and exhilaration which often result from pot-smoking, men and women occasionally lose all restraint and act in a manner that is both dangerous to themselves and to others. Antisocial behavior, stemming from the weed can be the forerunner of the use of harder drugs.

ACCIDENT PRONENESS-

While under the immediate influence of Marijuana, a person has a tendency to disorientate in relation to time and space around him.

People have been known to fall off cliffs and out of buildings because of reefers. Highway accidents have been traced to this source. Do not think you can muffle part of your brain for a while and always come out of it safely?

GLANDULAR CHANGES-

Important changes in major glandular functions take place over a period of time because of the continued use of Marijuana.

In the limbic area of your brain is a small piece of tissue that hangs down into the center of your skull: the hypothalamus. Just below it is one of the most important ductless glands in your entire body-the pituitary. It only takes one-billionth of a gram of THC to touch off a new output pattern in the hypothalamus. I n consequence, signals are sent both to the pituitary (which regulates all physical endocrine function) and the reproductive hormones (which regulate sexual function and the entire reproductive process). Inability to have children, inability to carry them to full term, inability to produce milk to nurse them, -all these are problems facing pot-smoking women.

SEXUAL MALFUNCTION AND IMPOTENCE-

Men and women who stay with Marijuana eventually lose their sex drive. Sexual activity falls off and fewer orgasms take place. This pattern is best seen in men and women who have been smoking pot for five years or more. I n addition, research has shown that a lowered sperm count in men will occur. Frequently this is accompanied by a larger number of abnormally shaped sperm. Another ominous factor is the observation that the majority of the sperm moved slower and appeared weaker. Is this what you want for your future? -degenerate children?

OVARY DAMAGE-

If you are a woman and wish to have healthy children someday, then consider what Marijuana can and will do to your ovaries-and stay away from this powerful drug.

Radioactive tagging of THC reveals that it accumulates in the ovaries, as well as in other organs in the body. A woman only has a certain number of eggs (about 400,000), Once damaged, nothing can be done to restore them to their original condition. And research has proven that Marijuana damages the ovaries and the ova (eggs) within them. Rhesus monkeys were selected because their reproductive systems so closely resemble those of humans. Those in the control group received no THC; the other group received a monkey equivalent of two cigarettes a day. 44 percent of the THC mothers produced dead or dying young.

 Pathology tests on the dead offspring revealed subtle developmental abnormalities in the tissues and organs. Then the babies that had not died were observed and found to behave differently than normal babies. Behavior was erratic, and seemingly with less self-control. The attention span could not be as readily maintained. All this is symptomatic of marginal brain damage prior to birth. 

(It should be mentioned that researchers, through analysis of THC blood levels, are able to very accurately ascertain a "monkey equivalent" of the amount of THC a human would obtain in a reefer.

DNA DESTRUCTION-

DNA is the genetic material that is the heart of every cell nucleus in. the human body. If it is not present in the correct chemical arrangement, normal cell functioning and division cannot take place. In 1974 it was discovered that Marijuana injures DNA content and placement.

Dr. Gabriel Nahas of the Medical School at Columbia University has done extensive research into Marijuana for decades. In 1974 he discovered that THC intrusion into cell nuclei reduces the ability of the individual cells to maintain life functions in accordance with the genetic code that is built into cellular molecules. This is because THC interferes with the formation or DNA in cell nuclei. The result is cellular death or abnormality. Without DNA coding, the cell mutates into new patterns.

 MIDDLE AND OLD AGE PROBLEMS-

Yes, its all yours if you want to smoke pot:

Here is part of what it will hand you as a free gift: severe chest pain, certain respiratory conditions, short-term memory loss. All these are factors that normally only the elderly have trouble with. Why get old while you're still young? Get off the junk weed and get back into real life.

RESPIRATORY PROBLEMS-

A whole list of chest troubles can be yours if you will take the time to stick by Marijuana: Research studies were made of U.S. Army men stationed in West Germany. It was discovered that heavy Marijuana smoking produced bronchitis, asthma, sinusitis, pharyngitis and a number of other respiratory diseases. And it was found that anyone of these conditions could occur within less than a year or;; so after starting on pot. The extent of the problem was far more severe among users of grass than among men who had been heavy smokers for over ten years.

LUNG DIGESTION-

Sounds pretty disagreeable, doesn't it? Here are some of the details:

It was found that a major reason marijuana users are so prone to lung disease is due to "airway resistance." Marijuana increases by 200 percent the occurrence of certain enzymes that occupy themselves with eating, or digesting, the walls of the thousands of passages in the lungs. This results in lung malfunctions of various kinds.

REDUCED OXYGEN INTAKE-

We all need oxygen to keep going. Consider the problems of those who try to climb Mount Everest if you think you can do without a proper amount of it. But on a pot diet you are headed for oxygen trouble-that may last the remainder of your earthly life.

The problem of "airway resistance," mentioned above, results in a reduced amount of oxygen to the lungs. If you stay with hemp, the day is coming when you will live in semi-oxygen starvation all the time. Not so good. Not only is less oxygen available to your body, but excess carbon dioxide is retained,-and carbon monoxide in the smoke replaces more oxygen. You feel all "done in" and don't know why. Your initiative seems collapsed. Try quitting grass while you can still get air. 

CANCER PRODUCING-

Yes, cancer producing! A number of separate research studies are all pointing the same way: The use of Marijuana is cancer-producing.

The mechanics of this is similar to cigarette smoke and lung cancer. An unfiltered tobacco cigarette contains about the same amount of carbon monoxide, benzene, acetone and ammonia. These are all highly irritating and dangerous. But the two important cancer-producing chemicals, benzathracene and benzoprene, occurred in a 55 to 70 per-cent greater concentration in the smoke of Marijuana.

Both tobacco and Marijuana will produce cancer. Both produce squamous-metaplasia cells in test persons. Both condensates produce cancer tumors. But Marijuana smoke is more harmful to the lungs than is tobacco smoke, and it will produce lung cancer more quickly.

HEART PROBLEMS-

Anyone with heart trouble-or who wants to avoid it-should stay away from reefers.

It increases the heart rate by 30 beats per minute, putting a strain on it in a resting position. But the heart, now needing additional oxygen to handle the increased load, is denied that, as we have seen above. 

HEART ACTION REDUCED-

Here is another way to stop your heart a little earlier: Start using pot.

Marijuana directly weakens the heart muscle, through a reduction in its ability to pump blood: A complicated series of factors underlies this problem. But take it from me: Get far away from pot before it gets you. 

But the smoke of Marijuana also weakens the heart in two other ways: At the very time a person is smoking Marijuana, he is taking surprising amounts of carbon monoxide into his body. But the CO 1 damage is multiplied in two ways: First, the carbon monoxide chemically replaces oxygen in the body, greatly weakening all of its functions. Second, the Marijuana smoke itself also contains factors, not as yet fully understood, that keep oxygen from the body. -These two factors combine into an insidious combination to slowly but permanently weaken physical functions, and at the same time aid in the work of organic brain damage.

POP TALK FOR POT THIS JUMBLE ALL MEANS THE SAME THING: MARIJUANA: Here are thirty-six aliases for pot:

Acapulco Gold, Broccoli, Bush, Dry High, Gage, Ganga, Grass, Giggle-smoke, Griffo, Hay, Hemp, Herb, Indian flay, Herb, J, Jay, Jane, Joints, Locoweed, Mary Jane, Mohasky, Mooter, Mota, Mu, Mutah, Muggles, Panama Red, Pod, Pot, Reefer, Sativa, Smoke, Stick, Tea, Weed.

POT IS WAY OUT- EIGHTEEN WAYS OUT:

SOME PEOPLE THINK THEIR POT LUCK IS PRETTY GOOD. BUT LOOK AT THIS:

"Today's pot smoker may not only be damaging his own mind and body, but may be playing genetic roulette and casting a shadow across children and grandchildren yet unborn."-Dr. Gabriel Nahas, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Nahas has done extensive Marijuana research into its effects for years.

Pot is poor pickings to Lebensohn, another researcher:

"Marijuana is not the innocuous drug many would have us believe . . all agree that it is a drug, which acts on the brain. In sufficient doses this drug induces confusion, disorientation, hallucinations and delusion. In my long experience working with Peace Corps returnees and other patients in their teens or early twenties, Marijuana in sufficient doses, has the capacity to trigger serious mental illness in susceptible persons.

"These psychotic episodes, some of them lasting for months, would never have occurred had the person not been exposed to substantial amounts of Marijuana. . The emotionally unstable young who use it are playing Russian roulette." -Dr. Zigmond M. Lebensohn, Emeritus Chief of Psychiatry at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D. C., and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Georgetown University, School of Medicine.

The experts say its time to stop being a crack-pot:

"The THC exposed babies that survived [Marijuana taken by their mothers] acted differently from the others. They didn't seem to have normal 'brakes' on behavior. They showed deficits in attention. This kind of subtle behavioral difference is characteristic of marginal brain damage in early development."-Dr. Ethel Sassenrath, researcher at California Primate Research Center, University of California at Davis.

If you don't break pot, it will break you later on:

"1 saw chronic bronchitis and emphysema, -generally found only in 45-or 50-year-olds, -in hashish-smoking soldiers who were only 18 years old."-Dr. Forest S. Tennant, Jr., former director, U.S. Army Drug abuse program in West Germany. "We never used to see teen-agers with chest pain. In fact, we hardly used to see teen-agers [in here with such problems as these at all]; they're over the childhood diseases and usually in the prime of health. But now young pot smokers show up with a variety of symptoms, some of which, -like severe chest pain, certain respiratory conditions and short-term memory loss, -are normally associated with middle and old age. Many pediatricians, and I am one of them, are convinced Marijuana is the single most dangerous health hazard facing American youth today:' -Dr. Ingrid Lantner, clinical pediatrician, Cleveland, Ohio.

"Our study shows that in the case of youngsters who abstain completely [from taking any more Marijuana] for an average of six months, there is often a return of concentration, attention and memory to expected levels.

"This is not true for older Marijuanaholics. In respect to short-term memory loss, in some cases, they do not appear to come back all the way. Furthermore, because older users are usually long-term users, they have made subtle changes in their lives that are hard to undo. For example, they slide into less-demanding jobs.

"Even if off the drug for a year, one or two joints can send them on a pot binge, and they relapse quickly into their former use patterns. And although it may have taken two years to reach their prior seriously disabled state, it may take only two weeks of renewed pot smoking to revert to the same level."-Dr. Mark Gold, director research, Fair Oaks Hospital, Summit, New Jersey. (Dr. Gold received the American Psychiatric Association's 1981 Foundation Prize for Research in Psychiatry.) 

Pot doesn't look like such a smooth ceramic after all, does it?

"By increasing either the heart rate or blood pressure, you increase the amount of oxygen needed by the heart muscle. With ten puffs of pot you increase both simultaneously. But that's not all. Marijuana increases the amount of carbon monoxide in the blood as well-thereby reducing the amount of oxygen delivered to the heart muscle.

"Not only could Marijuana precipitate a heart attack or cause sudden death in patients with known coronary disease, but people who might have sub clinical heart disease -without symptoms -could also be taking a risk. Remember that nearly 25 percent of persons dying suddenly from coronary heart disease have had no prior recognized symptoms of heart disease."-Dr. Wilbert S. Aronow, professor of medicine, and chief of cardiovascular research, University of California at Irvine.

It's time to get off the pot sticks:

"Five years ago I testified before the [California] State Legislature that Marijuana was harmless. I have changed my mind. At that time my experience with users was limited and literature was sparse. Most of what I had read and heard led me to the conclusion that there was no proof of long-term harm.

"But the Psychiatric Clinic in Berkeley sees approximately three thousand students a year. My thinking began to shift as I noticed that formerly bright students were finding it difficult to concentrate, to memorize and to think straight. They would insist that they were feeling things more acutely, getting unusual insights into situations and loving humanity more. But I could see no evidence that any of this was true when those students spoke to me. I heard patches of lucidity and sometimes brilliance. Suddenly they would fall into a hole of confusion and be unable to extricate themselves. A common statement from such a student: I am lost: Or: I forget what I am trying to prove:

"I have now come to believe that the effects of Marijuana are cumulative, that after a period of prolonged use, say, six months or a year, if pure Marijuana is used in frequent dosage, chronic changes can occur which are similar to those seen in organic brain disease."-Dr. Harvey Powelson, chief of the Department of Psychiatry, University of California at Berkeley.

Too many are getting potted out and can't get back:

"A sizable number of our young people will not mature as they should. Instead, we can look forward to a growing population of immature, under qualified adults, many of whom will be unable to live without economic, social or clinical support."-Dr. Mitchell Rosenthal, psychiatrist and director of Phoenix House, New York City (Phoenix House is the largest residential drug-treatment facility in America).

Too many are deciding that it's not all such a potting good time:

 Consistent inhalation of Marijuana can trigger a condition in men known as 'gynecomastia, which is the development of female breasts in males. THC is chemically similar to the female hormone estradiol. In high doses over a period of time, it exerts a feminizing effect on males. In one instance, a young man asked to have two and one-half inch breasts removed. When biopsied they were found to be exactly like female breast tissue in every respect, including milk sacs. -From a report in "Newsweek," April 2, 1973, p. 65.

Coming off pot is coming back to life-and tell your friends to do it soon!

Careful research into effects of Marijuana revealed that pot damages chromosomes in both men and women. And it was noted that this damage occurred irregardless of whether they were light or heavy smokers of Marijuana. -Dr. Morton A. Stenchever, professor of obstetrics, University of Utah.

"Not Pot!" is the cry of a growing number of experts.

"The most obvious impairments caused by chronic Marijuana use are in the area of Organic Brain Syndrome. These include impaired short-term memory, emotional flatness, and the amotivational-or dropout-syndrome. This can progress from dropping of sports, to dropping out of school, to dropping out of the family."-Dr. Harold Voth, Menninger Foundation's School of Psychiatry, and chief of staff of the Topeka Veteran's Administration Medical Center.

Pot is junk in more ways than many:

"No other drug has the staying power and broad cellular actions on the body that cannabinoids [the chemicals in Marijuana] do."-Dr. Carlton Turner, director of a research project at the University of Mississippi, conducted under the auspices of the National Institute for Drug Abuse.

It's either a broken pot or a broken you.

British doctors have discovered that pot may cause cerebral atrophy. This is a condition in which an excessive destruction of brain tissue has occurred. Aside from cerebral atrophy, these doctors have also noted the effects of Marijuana in causing narcissism, loss of memory, pessimism, diminished clarity of thought, lessened capacity for work, and inability to focus on future goals. -From a report in the British medical journal, "Lancet,"

The wise ones drop pot; the others will wish they had later on.

 Doctors at the Reproductive Research Foundation in St. Louis have found that the blood concentration level of the male sex hormone testosterone among pot users was 44% lower than a control group. In a pre-adolescent boy this hormone imbalance can delay or severely disturb the normal course of puberty. They found that the use of Marijuana can induce temporary sterility and impotency in males. And because of this factor a pregnant woman carrying a male fetus can damage his sexual development If She smoked Marijuana during gestation. -Report of the findings of the St. Louis Reproductive Research Foundation.

Some may be pot-happy for a while, but others recognize its long-term effects:

The latest headlines tell of how the immune systems of a growing number of homosexuals and drug addicts are going haywire. But back in 1914 it was reported that researchers at Columbia University had discovered that the use of Marijuana was laying the foundation for immune system trouble ahead. It was found that Marijuana depresses the body's immune system so that it cannot fight invading organisms. The ability of the white blood cells to resist foreign substances was 40% less among pot smokers. This makes them more susceptible to disease than the general population. -From a research report by a team at Columbia University College of Physicians.

Here are more pot shots:

"If someone smokes [Marijuana] twice a week or more, sobering up-in a total sense-never occurs. Even when not 'high: he or she remains in a state of sub-acute intoxication; in most cases, without even recognizing this 'holdover' effect."-Or. John Meeks, medical director, Psychiatric Institute of Montgomery County, Maryland.

Well, there's not much left in the pot after all that!

The inescapable fact is that unless our current pot-smoking habits are reversed sharply, Marijuana will have drastic long-term physical and psychological health effects on our young people and, therefore, on the future of our families and our nation." -Dr. Carlton Turner, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Marijuana Research Program, University of Mississippi.

POT'S GOING WI LD-

 AT LEAST THE PEOPLE ARE-TRYING TO GET IT TO YOU.

Not because they care about you. They just want your money.

America has entered a drug epidemic. And much of it is keyed to Marijuana. Millions all over the land are turning to pot as the answer to their problems. Instead, they are going to find that it is going to give them a whole potful of new problems.

In 1962, only 4 percent of adults age 18 to 25 had ever smoked Marijuana. By 1982 that figure had risen to 64 percent. Among the 182.5 million Americans who are 12 or older, more than 57 million-a whopping 31.3 percent-have tried Marijuana.

Studies reveal that in just one month in 1983 (April), 2.6 million teenagers smoked pot. Included in that figure are 29 percent of high-school seniors, who admitted having used Marijuana that month. Among adults 26 and older, about 8.4 million smoked pot that month.

About 75 percent of the Marijuana coming into the U.S. is channeled through Colombia. But the more stringently efforts are made to control its import, the more we have on our streets. America is sprouting into a Marijuana garden. Thousands are entering the business of planting for potheads. From Northern California to the Carolinas,-pot is going wild, ,but not growing wild. Carefully Cultivated, it is being planted in backyards and  national forests, with secret harvests and many arrests.

Guns are being used to protect it and trouble is ahead for all America unless something is done soon. It is now recognized that the Mafia is moving into the field in an attempt to control the wholesale outlets of the crop. This will mean quiet murders for the middlemen in the business who resist selling their pot through the proper outlets. Marijuana is now the second largest cash crop in Kentucky and one of the largest in Hawaii.

And yet, as you have been reading above, Marijuana can be one of the most dangerous investments you have ever put into your body.

And now a move is on foot to legalize this monster. With 16 million Americans currently taking Marijuana, major damage is taking place in our population. But keep in mind old China. That powerful civilization crumbled in the 19th century when its hard-drug levels rose to more than 30% of the population. The United States is gradually nearing that level. At the time of this writing, eleven states have already decriminalized Marijuana, and there is a strong drive to make this maiming, murderous junk legal throughout the nation.

WHAT IS MARIJUANA?

Over 300 scientific studies into the harmful effects of Marijuana have been published in scientific journals since 1975. These effects include personality damage, abnormal cell nuclei in both size and development, injury to sperm and ova, disorganized protein production, reduced oxygen and heightened carbon monoxide content in tissues, irregular cell division, cancer, and heart, lung, glandular, nerve and brain damage.

All Marijuana comes from a single plant: the cannabis sativa, commonly called "Indian hemp." "Cannabinoids" are the chemicals found only in this plant. Todate, 61 have been isolated. They are very dangerous, as we have seen elsewhere on this sheet. These 61, plus 360 other chemicals, provide us with a total of 421 presently identified chemicals in the cannabis plant The most active of the cannabinoids is THC (tetrahydrocannabinol).

Hashish, prepared from cannabis in a different way, is much stronger than Marijuana. Marijuana is smoked in pipes or cigarettes. Hashish is taken orally or mixed with a food and eaten.

Both are illegal. You only need have either one in your possession in order to receive a stiff prison sentence. Fines and even heavier sentences are doled out for transporting cannabis or giving or selling it to another. For example: If a person over 18 sells Marijuana to a minor under 18, he is subject to a fine of up to $20,000 and/or 10 to 40 years in prison for the first offense, with no suspension of sentence probation or parole-  Leave cannibis alone. A long way alone.

MORE POWERFUL THAN POT

IT'S TOO LATE TO BE CRACKED ON POT. HERE IS SOMETHING FAR BETTER: Marijuana is not your friend. It is a silent enemy. Once inside, it spends its time trying to injure, cripple and destroy your mind and body. Here is how to solve the problem:

First, decide that from now on you will choose only those people as friends who really desire your best good. Settle it in your mind that you will drop the hangers, and stay away from those who just want to use you, get your money, wear you out, and get you into trouble.

Second, go by yourself alone. Make sure you have a couple extra hours to spare. Get on your knees and ask God for help! And be serious about it. For the truth is that you desperately need help, and He is the only One who can give it to you. Talk to Him out loud. Tears won't hurt at all. Tell Him the mess your life is in. Ask Him for forgiveness. Stick with it. Ask Him to forgive your sins. Tell Him that, with His help, you choose not to go back to your old ways. Have a Bible there with you. Read John, chapters 18 through 21. Talk to God about what you read. It was written for you; And about you. Peter fell just as you did. And Christ forgave him, too. Then read John 14 through 17. Tell Him that you have sinned against Him and you want peace with Him. Tell Him that you want to give your life to Him and obey what He tells you in the Bible. Then, believe that He has forgiven you and that He will help you obey Him. By this you shall know it: the peace of forgiveness and acceptance with God will come into your heart.

Third, from that point onward, every day of your life must begin with time for God, in prayer and the reading of His Word. All through the day you must cling to His hand and send up silent prayers for help-and also prayers of thankfulness. Expect Satan to try to give you trouble through everyone and everything around you. But you are strong as long as in your weakness you hold Christ's hand tightly.

We live in a world in rebellion against God and His Ten Commandment Law. Determine that you will be different. With the help of God, you will be loyal to Him, to high standards of conduct, to right living. Settle it that you will spend your time trying to help others instead of merely living for amusements and selfish indulgences. Decide that you will care for your body so you can better serve God and help others.

And write me, so I can send you other materials that will help you in your daily walk with God. A wonderful future is about to open up before you, as you begin the three steps described above.