MY STRAIGHT EDGE LIFE: WHEN A LABEL HELPS

Straight edge culture has been around since the early-1980s, existing as a subculture in the punk music scene, and still continues to hold a big place in hardcore today. People like myself who identify as straight edge typically do not drink, use tobacco products, smoke weed, or do any other recreational drugs.

For some people, the straight edge lifestyle goes beyond those things, and also includes avoiding caffeine, eating a vegan diet, refraining from promiscuous sex, and often extends to including progressive political beliefs.

Before continuing, I want to make it clear that I’m underage, so I legally can’t partake in drinking, smoking weed, etc., but that doesn’t mean much nowadays. Nearly everyone I know has participated in using these substances before they were of age, and I’m constantly in safe situations where I could easily try them out if I wanted. But I just have never had even the slightest interest in doing so, and I understand my beliefs well enough that, when it comes to this, I know they won’t change.

Although I am part of the alternative/punk music scene, the term  ‘straight edge’ is more of a convenience than anything, for me. Just like any other label, it’s a way for me to most easily explain why I’m saying, “No thanks,” when people are doing shots or passing around a joint at social gatherings, and they’ll usually understand and ask no further questions.

I don’t intentionally listen to straight edge bands. In fact, I’m not sure I listen to any. To those who take the lifestyle very seriously, that could mean I’m not really straight edge to them, and that’s fine with me because my takeaways from it are different.

When I was 16 and became really ingrained in the music scene, it felt like I couldn’t find anyone who wasn’t smoking weed all the time. It’s not only a gateway drug in the way that it can lead to the use of harder drugs, but it’s also used as a gateway to friendship. It’s something people bond and connect over, and it made me feel like there was something wrong with me for not understanding it or wanting to participate in it.

If you think about it, it’s pretty weird that not using potentially addictive and often harmful substances makes me the odd one out. Don’t get me wrong: I admire and respect the ways that marijuana has helped people with their physical and mental health. But it just seems strange that wanting to always be sober isn’t the norm, at all.

One day I stumbled across a YouTube video with a title that was something along the lines of “Why I’m Straight Edge,” and I clicked on it because I had no idea what the term meant, and thought it sounded funny.

As the video played, I grew emotional as I realized that I wasn’t as alien as I had felt. I was astounded that there was a whole community dedicated to people feeling this exact way. It helped me understand and accept this part of myself.

A lot of people who identify as straight edge believe it makes  them healthier and more clear-minded. While I agree with those perspectives, what led me to feeling this way was more about the people around me, and not myself.

While people try to say that marijuana isn’t addictive, I have very clearly seen otherwise. It’s addictive in the same way that social media, caffeine, and food can be addictive. It happens rather passively, as people find that it’s easier to pass their free time by being intoxicated, so it just becomes normal to them.

I’ve had people pick drugs over me too many times to count, and have seen how poorly friends deal with withdrawals when they run out of weed and can’t afford anymore.

As marijuana becomes legal in more places, and smoking weed becomes seemingly just as common as drinking, it’s important to remember to have healthy conversations surrounding the use of these substances. Avoid assuming everyone drinks and/or smokes, and when you learn that someone doesn’t, try not to make them feel like more of an outsider than they’ve likely already experienced.

For me, identifying as straight edge means feeling a little less alone in a social climate that heavily revolves around getting intoxicated to pass the time.

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