A Don Savant Public Service Announcement

I have never been one to sit around and judge what other people do. Mainly because I know that every human being on this earth has to answer to God. I'm not your judge, He is. I do, however, intend to raise awareness about drug use, especially among our youth. I hear people all the time trying to defend drug use by making statements like, "weed ain't never killed nobody", or "alcohol is more dangerous than this ecstasy, etc".

The truth of the matter is, any mind-altering substance that enters your body is a direct threat to your health. Whether it's alcohol, cocaine, crack, marijuana, pcp, meth, or whatever. It's the chemicals in these drugs that do the most harm to you.

You may ask why I care, why I'm speaking out about this if I'm not judging you. This is something that's been close to my heart after losing someone very dear to me because of drug use.

My father, I know was a weed smoker, and an alcoholic. He may have done other drugs as well, but that's the only one I know of for sure. We admitted him to the hospital back in '98 for a heart aneurysm. He was placed in an intensive care unit. While he was there, he had to have not one but two blood transfusions. When they removed his old blood and cycled in the new, there was nothing but a green sludge moving through the tubes. His entire blood stream was contaminated. All of the chemicals that he'd taken in from his drug use were being forced out. This was something that I did not want to see, but it's something that I had to see because that moment taught me just how dangerous and how much drugs really do affect your body. Taking a puff here and there may seem harmless at the moment, but what's building up inside of you over time is something that you can't see or feel until it's too late to do anything about it.

I cried, as I watched this process take place; as my unconscious father laid there lifeless with tubes running through him, his teeth falling out one by one and as tears fell from his eyes as if he knew we were watching and was ashamed of what we were seeing. It saddened me to see my father, the ex-marine laying there in such a fragile state. But, even with all of this, he was still daddy...he was still the man that taught me things that only a man could teach. He was still the man with flaws that I accepted, good or bad just because of who he was. He was the one who taught me what unconditional love was. I remember him always saying...I may do things that aren't right, but know that I love you, and always will. He always told me to be a better man than he was.

Please my people, if drugs are your way of loosening up or your idea of a good time, please think twice before you use them. Please don't let that poison run and ruin your life and the lives of the people who love you. We want you to live, we need you sober, so that you may accomplish the great things that God has in store for you. I'm not asking you to do it for me, do it for yourself. Do it for your mothers, and fathers. Do it for your children. I've seen first hand what the stuff looks like coming out of a person. It's an experience you never forget. I've stayed clean because of it. I'm asking all of you to do the same. God Bless.

-Don Savant