SHE has a younger brother who’s in middle school. When asked whether she’s ever concerned he’ll end up doing drugs or being in a situation that’s similar to hers, she begins answering the question before it’s even completely phrased. “Do you ever worry that he’ll end up...?.” The question trails off as she fills the brief silence with her answer.

She was optimistic that he wouldn’t end up in the same situation because her parents, in part because of her, have started to educate him more about drug usage. They’ve come to realize the same thing she’s come to understand – that although Cupertino may be a safe community, it isn’t a completely sheltered community. And even though they never specifically mention her drug use around him, her parents drop subtle hints. Between being grounded all the time and her parents dropping questions like “hey, what’s that smell?,” she thinks her brother knows what’s going on.

It's not unusual for substance use to have an impact that resonates through a family, according to Kendra. Along with the physical effects, drugs and addictions often have an emotional impact that weigh heavily on an individual’s family.

“We tend to think of addiction, actually, as a disease of the family in some ways [in] that one person’s addiction can impact the family members in drastic ways,” Kendra said.

Subconsciously, the anonymous former student found herself pulling away from friends who didn’t do drugs, simply because “doing drugs” is something to have in common with others. In a friend group where drug use is common, she imagines staying sober would’ve resulted in drifting apart from the group. Quietly, almost as an afterthought, she added that drifting away from that group might not have been a bad thing. But despite all of this, she answered without hesitation that she’s still the exact same person as she was before she got involved with drugs and alcohol. And with the exception of the time she blacked out on the way to Santa Cruz, she thinks her experience with drugs was “pretty great” until she got caught by her parents.

She dropped out of a school sport — not in direct relation to her drug use, but she admits that perhaps it was indirectly related. At the time of the interview in March, her parents were still upset she left the team. Leaving the sport wasn’t immediate; it started off with a falling out with some of the people on the team, but she still went to practices. Yet when people on the team began speaking poorly of her, her coach took a look at her Instagram and said it looked like she’d been partying all the time. She didn’t say it then, but in her mind she defiantly thought ‘well, maybe I am.’ And when her coach asked her if she still wanted to be on the team, she recalled with a laugh how her answer was a blunt “no.”