My sister, Mary Reines, helped me to write the eye-opening article, below. I hope you can handle it.

This week a tragic story caught my eye. It led me to think about emotional health and learning to ask for help when you need it, no matter what the cost. Health is more important than your reputation, your college degree and your personal record. Please don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.

I read a story in the Boston Globe about a student at the University of Massachusetts Amherst who died suddenly from a heroin overdose, about a year ago. The student, referred to as Logan, to protect the family’s privacy, was a drug dealer who was caught by UMass police. The police offered him a clean record in exchange for his services as an informant, which basically meant that Logan would be released as if nothing had happened, if he would help the police find other student drug dealers.

Logan accepted the offer. He was grateful that his parents would not find out about his unlawful behavior and that he would not be losing his scholarship money or his enrollment at UMass. However, this did not resolve his drug addiction, as he casually dismissed an offer to get counseling and the police did not notice that he had a problem.

When the police found a needle in his room, they dismissed it as drug paraphernalia and Logan’s parents were not notified. The police did not find any heroin in his room. Besides Logan’s drug dealers, no one seemed to know about his addiction. His parents were shocked to find him dead on his bathroom floor when they came to visit him for the weekend.

Today, Logan’s untimely death is raising many questions. Is it ethical to use a college student as bait to catch other student criminals? Is it fair that police have the power to threaten student offenders with expulsion and humiliation if they don’t adhere to police duties? Some readers believe that Logan is responsible for his fate. If he weren’t in college, would his parents be notified? After all, he was over 18. Or was it the fault of the police for not notifying his parents about the needle and recruiting him as an informant? Should he have been forced to attend drug counseling?

The details of this story are harrowing, and I believe that every student should read it. The Globe published text messages from Logan that show his desire to go to rehab earlier in the year, and then his desperate craving for heroin the night before he died. His drug dealer reassured him that the heroin would be delivered soon.

“I know youre hurtin but u will very soon be in the loving comforting arms of Miss H,” the dealer wrote.

The dealer is still a student at UMass. Logan isn’t.

We can spend all day pointing fingers at who is to blame, but my advice to you is this: don’t do drugs, and if you do, please don’t make them a habit. That goes for marijuana, heroin, LSD, shrooms, cocaine, ecstasy and everything in between. Don’t make drinking a habit, either. All of these poisons have harmful implications far past your glamorous, youthful years.

Be careful, your friends are not always looking out for you. Logan’s friend advised him not to go to rehab because he was afraid Logan wouldn’t be allowed to go back to UMass. Well, Logan already missed a full year of school. Because he died.

Don’t dismiss pain or distress simply because it has become routine. Logan was accustomed to drug addiction. It became normal for him, and he convinced himself that he could handle it, even though it was ruining his life. Seek guidance. Ask for help. Find people to rely on and be honest about your struggles.

Always ask for help no matter what the cost. A college degree may be very expensive, but your life is worth more. Please always ask for help.