Ana was a good student in middle school. She got above-average grades, seemed poised and self-possessed, and, like many of her friends in her charming coastal town north of Boston, was on a probable path to college. Then, during her freshman year in high school, she decided to experiment with drugs and alcohol.
One night she got very drunk with some friends and loved it. She says it made her feel like "the person she wanted to be." Before long she was also smoking marijuana. Soon after, a friend gave her some prescription painkiller pills to try, which Ana (not her real name) says made her feel even better than the alcohol.