Stoned – A Story of Addiction

In Stoned – A Story of Addiction, Galila Ron-Feder-Amit tells the chilling story of the neighbors` son who becomes addicted to hard drugs, and she forces her readers to face the truth. Although the story takes place in Israel, it could happen anywhere in the world.

Yogev is seventeen, the only child of a well-to-do family – his father is a bank manager and his mother a senior physician. He is an excellent student, an outstanding athlete, and popular too. It all starts when his girlfriend Inbal decides to break up with him and goes out with his best friend, Ilan. Angry and depressed, Yogev goes to a party where two of his classmates suggest he smoke hashish to calm down. One seemingly innocent joint makes Yogev feel good and he asks for more. He quickly discovers that he can get hold of the drug himself and roll a joint. And of course he`s convinced that he can stop whenever he wants, because “hashish is not addictive.” Then he meets lovely 15-year-old Kinneret at a party. Kinneret, who lives on a kibbutz, knows how to get hold of good stuff and gives in to his advances. Yogev is now sure that he has a new girlfriend, but he gradually discovers the darker side of Kinneret`s personality – she has lots of “friends” who supply her with the hard drugs she needs. In fact, Kinneret will do anything for drugs and Yogev, who wants to be helpful, steals an electrical appliance from his home, and then gives in to Kinneret`s suggestion that he try just a teeny shot, “because it`ll make you feel on top of the world.” While all this is going on, Yogev neglects his studies and his grades suffer, but his parents think it is just a natural adolescent phase. Yogev is saved in time and is detoxified, but Kinneret overdoses and dies.