Pubdate: Sat, 18 Dec 2010 Source: Times & Transcript (Moncton, CN NK) Copyright: 2010 New Brunswick Publishing Company Contact: http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/onsite.php?page=contact#B Website: http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2660 Author: Hannah Isabelle Agnew Note: Hannah Isabelle Agnew is a Grade 10 student at Moncton High School. MILEY'S OUTRAGEOUS ANTICS CLEARLY A CRY FOR HELP Ever heard of the drug Salvia? Salvia is an old natural herb that the Mazatecs from Mexico used to use for shamanic visions. Nowadays it is considered to be a hallucinogenic drug much like LSD. There's one difference, though: salvia is legal in many countries across the world. Last week the Celebrity gossip website TMZ released a video of teen pop sensation Miley Cyrus smoking from a bong. Soon after the video surfaced, Miley's manager assured everyone that she was not smoking marijuana, another popular drug amongst young adults, but rather, she was smoking salvia, which, they clarified, is legal in the state of California. Personally, I think this is a cry for help. Clearly, Miley has been trying her best over the past year to shed her Disney and Hannah Montana past and start fresh as an adult actress and musician. To do this, Miley has decided to wear less clothing, make scandalous music videos, and, now, film herself smoking salvia. First, I'll touch on the clothing that Miley Cyrus has chosen to sport and her scandalous music videos. Earlier this year Miley released her single 'Can't Be Tamed.' Soon thereafter, she released her music video for it. The video is packed full with Miley wearing the least amount of clothes possible and comparing herself to a wild bird, saying that she 'can't be tamed.' Throughout the video you can see Miley rubbing up against other girls and almost kissing them. I'm definitely not one to judge, and I'm certainly not anti-gay, but for a girl who has prided herself in her faith and is very much seen as a goody-goody since her start as Hannah Montana at the age of 11, for her to be nearly kissing another girl is definitely a big deal. As for the issue involving salvia, Miley, as with any other product she has (knowingly or unknowingly) promoted, the sale of the drug has increased since the release of the video. This, to me, is sad. If an 18-year-old girl can manage to increase the sale of a drug then, really, where do people stop? Will we kill ourselves over something as silly as following in a celebrity's footsteps? If Lindsay Lohan gets drunk and crashes her car, are we all going to do it? If Demi Lovato, another former Disney star, is caught with cut scars on her wrist, will we all follow her lead? If Miley Cyrus is spotted smoking a drug from a bong, are we seriously going to increase the sale of said drug? I know that we're obviously not all going to run out to get our hands on the substance after seeing the video, but there are a lot of curious people out there. Clearly, this is all a cry for help. I get that it's hard to get yourself out of a Disney contract, but Hilary Duff and Raven Symone managed to do it without undressing themselves and doing drugs, so why can't Miley? Yeah, her parents announced their divorce just a few weeks ago, but, hey, my parents announced their separation to me a year ago, and I definitely haven't started doing drugs and neither have a lot of other kids. This girl needs help, and of course, publicity is making it impossible because we're all just attacking her through TV, newspapers and online (and that includes myself, I guess). Hannah Isabelle Agnew is a Grade 10 student at Moncton High School. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D