Evan, I came to this house to buy drugs, and the guys are being super-sketchy. They sold me my drugs, but now every time I try to leave, they find some way to make me stay longer. They’re being overly friendly in a suspiscious kind of way. I know I could just up and leave, but what if that pisses them off? I’m getting scared, get me out of here. 
You need to find a less sketchy drug-dealer.

These guys are your run-of-the-mill, sketch-ball drug dealers. They take a lot of pride in their business supplying drugs to the masses. It definitely inflates their egos, being the power-holding gatekeepers of the intoxicants. They’re using this power to be intimidating and imposing on you. It’s unlikley that they have any intention of causing you real harm. They probably just know how uncomfortable they’re making you, the innocent student that just wants to have some fun.

They know you’re not into the whole hardened-criminal lifestyle, and they want to impose it on you. You have to remember that the longer you stay in their house, the more “power” they feel they have over you. So we’re going to take that away from them.

You’ve been here long enough. Look one of them straight in the eye with a straight face and ask if you can use the bathroom. Their bathroom will become your safe space. In the privacy of the loo, they lose their contact with you, and likely a significant amount of interest in their drug-dealer mind games that they are playing with you. Use this time as an opportunity to certify your independence in your decision making, Just don’t stay in there too long.

When you come out, avoid making statements that allude to what you want — they don’t care what you want. Don’t say, “well guys, I should probably be going now.” That’s just going to give them an opening to play more mind games and keep you in their house and under their control. Say quickly, and with gusto, “I’m leaving, you guys take it easy.”

Don’t give them time to respond or interject on your intentions, act on them immediately. That way, they don’t have any more time to do their pesudo-friendly intimidatory pleadings. If they’ve got some agenda of harm against you, they only have the distance between you and the door to act on them, so make that distance as short as possible and get the heck out of there.

The next time you need drugs, don’t pick the first random joe that offers them. That’s how you end up in sketch houses with scary drug dealers with power complexes. Talk to your friends and have them connect you with a drug dealer that they trust and utilize frequently. Have them go with you when you initiate your first transaction. The buddy system is important when buying illicit substances. This will keep you out of the hands of scary people who just want to have some fun at your monetary and emotional expense.

ealinko@mavs.coloradomesa.edu