Dear Editor; Thank you for your last editorial regarding freedom of the press and censorship or banning certain letters to the editor. I do not speak out of self interest, only against encroachment of a police state. There are many of us in the community who do not necessarily condone the use of any drugs. Some of us (law abiding citizens all) think that the use of some drugs is okay. Then some of us realize that the prohibition of marijuana only perpetuates the increasing need for drug enforcement laws and all that it entails. We have an ever-increasing use of this soft drug while law enforcement tries unsuccessfully to keep pace. [continues 128 words]
Good intentions are no substitute for effective drug education. Independent evaluations of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) have found the program to be either ineffective or counterproductive. The scare tactics used do more harm than good. Students who realize they've been lied to about marijuana may make the mistake of assuming that harder drugs like methamphetamine are relatively harmless as well. This is a recipe for disaster. Drug education programs must be reality-based or they may backfire when kids are inevitably exposed to drug use among their peers. [continues 137 words]
RE: Police, Prohibition, And Violence When it comes to drug abuse, health care professionals and social workers usually advocate medical treatment and therapy. Many high ranking police and government officials, however, still insist that the best way to prevent drug use - and to win 'The War On Drugs' - is to put more people in jail, and for longer periods of time. They are advocating an extremely violent punishment for a non-violent crime. They are also 'sending a message' to the the rest of us, which is that they are in charge, and are willing to do any one of us terrible physical harm for the smallest infraction. There is no good reason to take policy advice from someone with such monstrous opinions. [continues 306 words]
RE: Students DARE To Beware As a Federal Medical Marijuana License Holder who is also married to one, I oppose and resent much of what the D.A.R.E. program proclaims. I applaud anyone's effort to keep kids off drugs, but D.A.R.E. spouts half-truths and bald-faced lies, while failing to mention the other side of the story. They do more harm than good, in my view, and many studies have corroborated that view. They perpetuate stereotypes and sow seeds of ignorance and prejudice. [continues 344 words]
Last Wednesday the News Leader joined Mr. Miller's Grade 5 Class at Vermilion Forks Elementary School for their 1:00 PM DARE Class. It wasn't what we expected. First, a little history. In 1994 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police embarked on a National program which targeted youth within Canadian communities in an attempt to educate them in regards to drugs in all their components. DARE, which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, was designed in 1983 by a Police Chief in Los Angeles who's son fell victim to the drug underworld. [continues 1324 words]
The turning point in the election polls was the dreadful Boxing Day Shooting of a 15 year old girl in Toronto. The next day the Conservative support increased by 6%. Understandably, those persons polled, made an emotional choice. And the reaction by party leaders was immediate. Get tough on crime, mandatory minimums. However, the Conservative Party was the only party that did not make any effort to address the real issues that underlie violence. If the Conservative Party becomes the ruling party, I fear for the country. Surely the people of Canada are smarter than to be sucked into "get tough on crime" rhetoric. It's all feel good nonsense that makes a surface appearance of doing something. [continues 413 words]
Princeton RCMP hosted a Drug Information Session last Thursday night at PSS. Close to 150 people jammed into the school cafeteria for the PowerPoint presentation. "Crystal Meth is impacting all of us," says Sgt. Kurt Lozinski, "We could sit here and talk about all the drugs but the need to identify this drug is paramount. We (the local police) are seeing a lot of this drug lately and it's scaring the pants off me." Lozinski and Cst. Ryan McLeod have taken a number of courses covering drug production and use and they shared their knowledge willingly with all present for the presentation. [continues 621 words]
