Pubdate: Fri, 31 Jan 2014
Source: Daily Astorian, The (OR)
Copyright: 2014 The Daily Astorian
Contact:  http://www.dailyastorian.info/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1629
Author: Jessica Brien

HIDDEN PERILS

I moved to the quaint little community of Cannon Beach because of the 
perceived safety that comes along with a small town. You feel safe 
here. There's really no crime, no drugs, no threats of any of that. 
It's a great place to raise kids. A happy little beach town complete 
with white picket fences and ocean views.

So imagine my surprise when I discovered that my teenage son was 
provided marijuana from another teenager here in Cannon Beach. 
Amongst his peers at school he's known as a "dealer" and was recently 
arrested at school with marijuana. Rumor has it that neither of his 
parents is bothered much by their son's behavior. Right here, in cute 
little safe Cannon Beach. My son and his friends were also provided 
marijuana by a parent of another student who holds a medical 
marijuana card. For that one reason alone, I will always vote against 
medical marijuana.

Regardless how you feel about the legalization of marijuana, (I am 
completely against it and will always be sure to cast my no vote when 
it's on the ballot) we can probably agree that at the very least, 
it's not safe for our children and can lead to harmful drug addiction 
habits in the future. The statistics for drug use amongst our teens 
in Clatsop County are staggering and as a parent, terrifying. I 
recently was chatting with a local alcohol and drug counselor about 
this and she said, "Jessica, you would be blown away by the number of 
parents sitting around smoking pot with their kids in this county."

Please join me in supporting the Cannon Beach Police Department's 
efforts in getting a drug sniffing dog (or two!).

This will provide our police and school officials with a much-needed 
tool in helping to eradicate the access to drugs within our schools 
and our community. One way these dogs will be used is to sniff out 
drugs within the walls of our schools and that will be a much needed 
deterrent for students.

Jessica Brien

Cannon Beach
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