Pubdate: Wed, 11 Feb 2004 Source: Seattle Times (WA) Copyright: 2004 The Seattle Times Company Contact: http://www.seattletimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409 Author: Ryan Faircloth Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n246/a03.html WARPED SENSIBILITIES I agree with Hieger's statements in general: fear and ignorance are poor deterrents. I would like to point out one flaw in his argument that (may) cause some to discount it. The water supply in Israel has historically been poor, at best; in place of water, unfermented wine was used at that time as a safe source of water. Also it would have been considered socially unacceptable to be drunk at a wedding, so in this case, the wine was probably just white grape juice. In addition, few scholars (though many Bible-thumpers) will disagree with the statement that the Bible teaches only to avoid drunkenness -- not that alcohol or drugs, by extension, are immoral. The most effective campaign to date to reduce teen smoking has been via advertising (the Truth campaign) that makes it "uncool" and points out the dangers. Such a plan would probably work with drugs and alcohol as well, without causing breakdowns in communications with teenagers that make substance abuse so dangerous. I do not believe acceptance of substance use as a normal phase is a good thing, however, what we are currently doing now does cause more harm than good. Ryan Faircloth, Lakeland, Fla. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake