Pubdate: Wed, 04 Oct 2006 Source: Merritt Herald (CN BC) Copyright: 2006 Merritt Herald Contact: http://www.merrittherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1446 Author: Russell Barth Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n1317/a02.html IGNORE THE LIES Editor: Re: School Deals With Increasing Neighbourhood Drug Issues When one considers that junk food will kill many times more Canadians than all illegal drugs combined, it is hard to think of drugs as the menace that the media, government and police have hyped them into. I applaud anyone's effort to keep kids off of drugs, but many of these so-called "drug education programs" have proven -- in many areas -- to cause more harm than good. As a Federal Medical Marijuana License holder who is also married to one, I resent the non-factual information on marijuana and the "all use is abuse" attitude that they usually adopt. Adults -- especially police -- have lost a lot of credibility when it comes to drugs because they lie and exaggerate the so-called "dangers" of marijuana. They tell kids that marijuana "is 10 times more potent than before," will cause cancer, schizophrenia, impotence, permanent stupidity and an addiction to hard drugs. When kids discover the truth on their own, they will realize they have been systematically lied to by people they once trusted. They will likely conclude that if adults lied about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and marijuana, they must be lying about meth, crack, heroin, ecstasy, booze, weapons, extreme sports, safe sex and safe driving too. And who can blame them? We live in a "drug culture" that advertises booze, fast cars, fast food, violent movies, video games and drugs of all kinds on TV. Then we tell kids "Say no to drugs." We give kids Ritalin, instead of just reducing their sugar and Game Boy intake, and then tell them "Marijuana is dangerous!" They see right though this hypocrisy. A ruse by any other name... Taking the drug business out of the hands of teens and criminals and putting it into the hands of responsible adults is socially conservative. Generating tax revenue from that industry is fiscally conservative, and using that money to teach kids why they should avoid drugs is morally conservative. For those keen on educating kids about drugs -- without all the fear-mongering, hyperbole and absurd hypocrisy of the standard "drug education" programs -- I recommend the Educators For Sensible Drug Policy website at www.efsdp.org. Russell Barth Ottawa, Ont. - --- MAP posted-by: Elaine