Pubdate: Thu, 28 Feb 2002
Source: Salmon Arm Observer (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 Salmon Arm Observer
Contact:  http://www.saobserver.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1407
Authors: Daneen Allemang, Louisa Zazulak
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n317/a12.html

KEEP FIGHTING DRUGS

Is Chris Donald (Letter Observer Feb. 20) suggesting that because 
some children use marijuana it should be made easily available to 
them?

Just because a large percentage of teens feel it is easy to obtain 
doesn't mean it should be an extracurricular activity at school.

Is it being said that if they can buy and sell from their peers at 
school they'll be safer, that if we leave them alone they'll be 
better off?

Rebellion may be expected with teens but should we accept this 
rebellion when it carries dangerous implications? Give your head a 
shake!

Who says the lives of these teens will be ruined because they are 
being charged? Perhaps it might save one of them or save the life of 
someone else. Perhaps these young people are only participating in 
illegal action because they can, because nobody cares enough to stop 
them.

As a parent of teens, I am glad that administration at SASS and the 
RCMP are making the effort. If one life is made better by these 
efforts then no expense is too great. We can't stop trying because we 
know they will just move on to another location. We must also move 
on, reach out, and let our youth know that we care and that there are 
better choices.

Daneen Allemang

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I applaud the school administration who had the courage to call in 
the law in order to apprehend drug dealers who do not belong in 
schools or anywhere near schools.

I would like to point out to the young man who objects to their 
arrest that the young people who were charged had already decided to 
ruin their lives when they took their little business to school.

Schools are supported by a large part of our taxes for the sole 
purpose of educating our young people. I don't think the average 
taxpayer would be too pleased to have our schools turn into a 
publicly funded institution with dealers openly selling in the 
hallways or for our teachers to try and get a lesson across to a 
classroom full of spaced-out kids.

It is a well-known fact that marijuana interferes with the learning 
process, recent studies find it is a greater risk factor for lung 
cancer and frequently leads to other, even more dangerous drugs.

We must fight the drug trade at every opportunity to protect our 
young people and our medical system, which ultimately has to pick up 
the bills.

Louisa Zazulak
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MAP posted-by: Josh