On Wednesday, October 8th, the freshman class gathered in the Harris Center to attend a seminar held by Jon Daily, an expert in the field of addiction and mental health. Mr. Daily spoke about the catastrophic ramifications of  alcohol and drug abuse, including denial, dwindling grades, anxiety, withdrawal, and crime.

Daily emphasized the narcotic known as “Wax,” which is a mixture of marijuana and butane which gets the user three times as high as a normal joint and is extremely addictive.

“Wax is 73 percent THC, (tetrahydrocannabinol),” he said. “And contributes to hallucinations, psychotic breakdowns and schizophrenia.”

When narcotics are used, the brain accumulates a massive rush of serotonin (a neurotransmitter; a substance in the body that carries a signal from one nerve cell to another). When you are high the brain will assume the amount of serotonin is normal and will develop a demand for more when you are not high, thus generating an addiction.

Daily studied the effects of drugs and alcohol because of his firsthand experience of abuse. He suffered from addiction as a teenager and recovered at 20 years old. Daily said he doesn’t want anyone to go through the same dilemma. Daily started a website to aid in curing addiction: www.recoveryhappens.com. He advises students to “know that peer pressure is going to happen. Know when to walk away from a situation when necessary. When someone you know has a problem, tell the counselors so they can help.”