Most likely, every Multnomah student has been in contact with someone on drugs or has taken drugs themselves. How should Christians deal with the drug problem?

Gabe Mensinger was a drug dealer before he became a Christian. Mark Pearson was a police officer in Merced, Calif. Carlos Ortiz was a counselor at Teen Challenge, which offers a drug rehabilitation program. The Voice asked them a couple of questions concerning drugs.



The Voice: What kind of experience have you had with drugs?

Mensinger: I dealt and I probably used every kind of drug before I became a Christian.

Pearson: I was a police officer in Merced. They sent me to a drug- recognition school put on by the Los Angeles police department.

Ortiz: I was a counselor for Teen Challenge for a year.



The Voice: Are drugs a common problem among Christians?

Mensinger: I don't see it a lot among the youth group that I work with, but I see a problem among some kids that I have worked with at Pioneer Square.

Pearson: I don't see a big problem. I never arrested anyone for drugs who claimed to be a Christian.

Ortiz: Yes, almost 20 percent of the people I have counseled were pastor's kids.



The Voice: In your opinion, is the drug problem often overlooked by the Christian community?

Mensinger: I think that it is something that isn't talked about enough.

Pearson: It probably is, to a point.

Ortiz: Definitely. Christians in America tend to overlook everything distasteful.



The Voice: What would help keep Christians from overlooking the problem?

Mensinger: I think that kids do it because they know that their parents and the church will never accept them if they do drugs.

Pearson: Christians need to be educated and able to help people who might be caught up in drugs.

Ortiz: Change. The church needs to make a radical change for what God wants and what God cares for. We need to realize that this is a problem. We need look for this kind of thing; it is in our youth groups.



The Voice: How should Christians be reacting?

Mensinger: We should tell them drugs will ruin their lives, but we will accept them no matter what. We must love them and want them to grow closer to the Lord.

Pearson: We need to love people but not condone what they are doing.

Ortiz: Just like any other sin, it's an abomination to God, and we need to get out of it.



The Voice: As Christians, what can we do to help a friend on drugs?

Mensinger: As somebody who has experience with drugs, I will show them how it affects their body, their mind, and their walk with God, as well as the pain drugs cause. I hope they will see that although it is cool now, drugs lead to destruction in the long run. We need to help them through it. It's just like any other sin; you need to know it is wrong and want to stop.

Pearson: We need to be a lens of Christ's love for that person, although we cannot enable them to make excuses and continue living an addictive lifestyle. It's like the prodigal son: each person will get to the point where they are slopping pigs and want to turn around.

Ortiz: We can't if that person has not accepted Christ as Savior. They must give their lives to Christ, and they will be set free. Then that person must look at where they are and where they want to be in life. From there, start moving them in that direction. At Teen Challenge, everything secular is taken from them for three months. When they come, they are completely taken off anything they have been on. They spend their days learning what it means to live for Christ. They get a head--on collision with the holiness of God>