Pubdate: Sun, 17 Aug 2003
Source: Madison Daily Leader (SD)
Copyright: 2003 Madison Daily Leader
Contact:  http://www.zwire.com/news/newslist.cfm?brd=1302
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1003

THERE ARE OTHER DRUGS BESIDES METHAMPHETAMINE

Methamphetamine as a serious problem in our state has received a lot of
media attention recently. The accessibility of the drug, as well as the
health and environmental consequences associated with its use, has even
prompted Gov. Mike Rounds to proclaim August as Methamphetamine Awareness
Month.

While we agree that South Dakotans need to be aware of the dangers of
methamphetamine and the signs and symptoms associated with its use, we also
believe South Dakotans need to be reminded that there are substances which
are more prevalent -- especially among young people -- and even easier to
get: alcohol and marijuana.

Marcie Johnson, community prevention coordinator for Community Counseling
Services in Madison, said that the danger of focusing attention on one drug
or substance is that society starts to categorize all drugs into "good" and
"bad" drugs.

She said that communities need to start focusing on a more comprehensive
prevention program instead. We agree.

"A lot of the times, parents will say `They're just drinking. They're just
smoking marijuana. At least they're not using methamphetamine.' That
concerns me because when you look at the statistics, more young kids are
being killed by alcohol-related crashes or even tobacco products than they
are by some of these other drugs," she said. "They can be serious drug users
with marijuana."

Some of the things Johnson suggests are K-12 drug prevention education in
our school systems and more church-sponsored positive activities for area
youth. Businesses can also send the anti-drug and -alcohol message by
educating their employees; watching for employees who may need help and then
offering assistance programs; and not serving alcohol at company parties if
they have employees who are under the legal drinking age.

"What needs to be done is we need to have a community coalition of people
working on various issues," said Johnson. "Communities that have active
coalitions seem to be successful in their efforts."

So let's stop focusing on one drug at a time and start looking at the bigger
picture, because there are other drugs out there besides methamphetamine.
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