Reggie had been a good student throughout elementary school, which in Souris included Grades 1 through 8.

He began experimenting with drugs in Grade 7, initially with magic mushrooms and later with other drugs. Despite this, his grades remained good through elementary school.

That began to change after he entered high school.

By then, drugs were becoming an increasingly important part of Reggie’s life. He was no longer simply experimenting with them. He was using drugs more regularly, selling marijuana and hash, and becoming increasingly involved in the lifestyle surrounding them.

At the same time, his interest in school declined. The subjects being taught seemed to matter less to him, and his grades began to reflect that change.

It is impossible to say how much of the decline was directly caused by drugs. Reggie was also a teenager becoming increasingly resistant to authority and less interested in following the conventional path expected of him.

But the timing is difficult to ignore.

As drugs became a larger part of Reggie’s life, school became a smaller one.