Partying in Merced: the thin line between fun and disaster

Alyssa Castro writes about teen partygoer life, where getting drunk and high is practically a requirement.  Whether getting intoxicated is dangerous, she says, depends heavily on the crowd you roll with.  Local parties have hosted brain damaging drugs, shooting deaths, and sexual assault.  Alyssa makes sure to stick with people she knows and trusts.   "All around me are friends, united in a common purpose — to have a good time, by any means necessary."  An account of one night in the partying life is on We'Ced.