“Euphoria” from HBO has become one of the most popular TV

shows due to its theme of the all too true reality of drugs and addiction within high school.  

With prominent actors and actresses’ such as Zendaya, Storm Ried and Jacob Elordi, it’s no wonder as to why there was so much hype around the series. 

The lead character Rue (played by Zendaya) was the prominent figure as a teen struggling with drug addiction. 

Fresh out of rehab, Rue had no plans of quitting her addiction, going straight back to her old habits. 

She faced the judgement of her peers but found support from a new friend Jules, played by Hunter Schafer, which she later falls in love with.

The plot thickens when she ends up taking a harmful drug that makes her pass out and stay out for an entire day, which led to her friends having to take her to the hospital. 

This event made Rue see the reality of the situation and finally decides to sober up, letting go of some of her friends on the way for her benefit.

Now, the most notable drug that comes to mind within high school is marajuana with a variety of vaping coming in as a close second. 

But marajuana isn’t the problematic drug in this show, it was something that was much stronger such as fentanyl, an opioid many times more potent than heroin.

According to NIDA, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Despite the continued rise in opioid overdose…among adults, lifetime misuse of prescription opioids (narcotics other than heroin) dropped significantly over the last five years in 12th graders” (NIDA, drugabuse.com).

This is a good sign for our future, but “Euphoria” shows there is still a long way to go.

One of the main reasons people turn to these higher effective drugs is to help distract themselves from what is actually going on with them in their lives, almost like tuning them out.

Rue seems to have stemmed her addiction to help distract her mind from facing the death of her father and her anxiety that has haunted her since she was a child. 

Rue puts her struggles into words, “It’s not that we have a death wish, but the only thing that makes us feel better might kill us. We pray to not die. With naloxone around, our prayer can be answered.”

Naloxone, also called Narcan, is a drug that helps prevent opioid overdoses from turning fatal. 

“Despite the surgeon general’s message, there are those who argue that putting naloxone in the hands of laypeople enables more risky drug use, suggesting that people lose the fear of dying and thus use more recklessly because they think they’ll be revived,” said Zachary Siegel (vulture.com). “Doctors and experts tend to respond that all naloxone does is enable the body to breathe again. Plus, having an overdose reversed can be a painfully excruciating experience, one that any user would prefer to avoid.”

The end of the season finale shows Rue crying, realizing all of the pain she has caused her family and her friends.

When she returns home after leaving Jules behind, she takes a book, makes a line, and snorts the powder that ushers her into a psychedelic musical number performed by Rue herself. 

The audience doesn’t know what lies ahead for Jules after this; they can only hope she is still alive for the next season. 

For More Info:

• https://www.vulture.com/2019/08/euphoria-hbo-drug-addiction-overdose.html
• https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/monitoring-future-survey-high-school-youth-trends
• https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8772296/