Pubdate: Thu, 06 Apr 2000 Source: Halifax Daily News (CN NS) Copyright: 2000 The Daily News. Contact: http://www.hfxnews.southam.ca/ Author: Raeanne Austin-MacDonald and Ron Stegen ALL OF US VICTIMS OF SCHOOL DRUGS To the editor: Parker Barss Donham's comments in Just Who are the Victims? (April 2) are naive and irresponsible. The real victims of the problem of drugs in the schools are all of us (parents, students, teachers, administrators and the public). Aside from the myriad of other problems created in our schools and society by the selling of drugs to children (whether by friends or not), learning and intoxication do not mix. I commend the administrators at Dartmouth High for their hard line approach to the drug trade in the school. There is nothing benign about our children and students being exposed to the antics of these substance abusers in the classroom. The "odd joint" at lunch time adversely affects the learning of these users and their classmates. No one learns when students are "high." Raeanne Austin-MacDonald Cole Harbour - ------------------------------------------------------------------- LAW CLEAR ON MARIJUANA To the editor: I have often read Mr. Parker Barss Donham's Sunday Perspective column with a sense of amazement and disbelief, but his viewpoint April 2 on the drug arrests at Dartmouth high school has left me absolutely stunned and appalled. To portray the school administration, principal Bob Johnston, and the Halifax Regional Police as the offenders, and the alleged traffickers as innocent victims is a disgrace, and an insult to the common-sense values of parents, educators, and most citizens. Please allow me to first emphatically state that I have no knowledge of the events at Dartmouth High School other than what I have learned through the media, and I firmly believe that the accused are innocent until proven guilty. I agree with Mr. Donham on one point: I suspect that occasional marijuana use is probably no more harmful than social drinking. However, this is a moot point. It is very clear to all, including high school students, that our society has determined that smoking marijuana is against the law, and selling the drug is a serious offence. Whether you personally agree with the law or not, the line has been drawn. If you look the other way or condone some crimes and not others, you have taken the first step down the proverbial slippery slope. Ron Stegen Dartmouth - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk