Pubdate: Thu, 10 Apr 2008 Source: Nanaimo News Bulletin (CN BC) Copyright: 2008, BC Newspaper Group Contact: http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/948 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) ACTION NEEDED ON DRUG ABUSE The latest Safe Schools survey found 25 per cent of high school students are smoking marijuana at school, and while it's not totally shocking, it does beg the question: Where is the supervision? Maybe it's not realistic to expect to watch every student for every minute of the day, but there's something wrong when our kids go to a public institution and come home stoned. Perhaps more alarming is the level of alcohol use on school property. Alcohol has long taken the biggest toll among abused substances. It is a factor in a majority of crimes. Alcohol dependence can do irreparable harm to health and cause family break-ups and accidents. Society tends to gloss over booze, simply because it's legal. But when we see one in five youngsters drinking regularly, on the school grounds, that's too many headed down a dangerous path. Bullying is another problem in our schools, according to 5,000 students surveyed. The experts know what's needed - better education, earlier in life, and if we want to curb substance abuse, we have to start giving our young people the information as soon as they're old enough to take it. Organizers of the survey weren't surprised by the results, and realistically, it's probably not surprising to anyone with high school-age children. Should we be alarmed? Probably not. Should we take action? Yes. Who should take action - the education ministry, the health ministry or non-profit groups - is open to debate. But the place to do it is in the schools, where the students are essentially a captive audience. It's also where a lot of the drugs and alcohol are being used. - --- MAP posted-by: Steve Heath