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.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine