by John's 10-year-old brother

It used to be a happy world before drugs came into it. Now kids wear cannabis leaves on their hats, cars and clothing.

My brother John* learned to use alcohol and smokes at school, from his schoolmates and their parents. Those drugs made him depressed and sad, so he changed to speed.

He can't get his car licensed because he spends his money on drugs.

John lies, too. We asked him about a mark on his arm and he said he scraped it on a car, but we found out it was from needles.

John is skinny because the speed takes away his appetite. Speed has made his back teeth go rotten and black, too. He lost his job because he hit his boss when he was in a bad temper.

John smokes so much that his front teeth are going yellow. If he hasn't had a smoke for a while he loses his temper and swears and hits the sides of the car.

His eyes look like Frankenstein's eyes when he takes drugs.

I wish John would do that

Most of John's friends are into drugs too, except Mark. Mark used to be into drugs, but when his parents had a really bad car accident, he didnąt know until two days later because he was so spaced out. He put himself into a drug rehabilitation place for three months and he stopped taking drugs.

I wish John would do that.

John was expelled from school because of cannabis. He and his mates would sneak out of school and steal the cannabis from people's backyards. That's called "doing a rip," but really it's stealing and trespassing.

John hates working night shift with his new job because he has to sleep during the day. Now he wishes he could go back to school again and get an education, and then get a better job.

Some people don't like us anymore because they don't like John. He gets blamed for doing all sorts of things by lots of people because they think he is really bad. But he hasnąt done what they say.

Once, some of his old school mates said he was selling them stuff at school, but even the principal knew it wasnąt true because John was living 400 kilometres away.

Drugs make people lie.

We have a prayer book and every day we open it and ask for God's angels to guide and protect John. We also pray for him to get rid of the drug problem.

I hate drugs because they're killing my brother, and I love him.

_____________________________

Written by the 10-year-old brother of a drug addict.

This story comes from an Adventist family and was submitted by the mother. Because of the situation in her own home, the mother has become aware of "dozens of Adventist families" struggling with this problem, including about 20 who have a son or daughter who is a heroin addict.

*All names have been changed.