Pubdate: Mon, 10 Mar 2003
Source: Bradenton Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2003 Bradenton Herald
Contact:  http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradentonherald/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/58
Author: Brenda Katz
Note: Brenda Katz is chairperson of the Safe and Drug Free Schools Advisory 
Committee.

LEGALIZATION IS NOT THE ANSWER

I didn't want to write about the drug issue and relive that afternoon 30 
years ago when the phone rang. I watched my father's face turn pale as he 
sighed, "Oh, no." My cousin, Terry, had died of an overdose of heroin.

More memories crowd into my mind, the mother who told me the horrors of 
walking through a crack house looking for her teenager, the words I wrote 
on a card for a friend, "I will whisper soft prayers for you." A little boy 
without a mom.

Never will I erase images of a pleasant, young man who rented from us. The 
day came when we found the house trashed and cocaine powder splashed across 
the torn ceiling tile where he had hidden it. Amid the garbage, we found 
scribbled notes. "I simply cannot quit."

My undergraduate work was done in both education and sociology, so it is 
only natural for me to deal with loss through research. After 30 long years 
of analyzing information on drugs, I have come to the unshakable conclusion 
that the answer is not legalization.

Several unreliable Web sites fail to explain that heroin and cocaine became 
illegal because of the direct correlation between the increase of drug use 
and a marked increase in theft, brutal assault and homicide, due to 
addiction, not the illegal aspect. By World War II, we had battled the drug 
epidemic and reduced drug use to a rarity. It was the 1960s and '70s that 
brought on marijuana, amphetamines, psychedelics and the reappearance of 
cocaine, accompanied again by a rise in violent crimes.

Countries where drugs have been legalized now find their problems 
compounded. Even policies which hint at working are not conclusive. When 
citing research from these countries, some use what my sociology instructor 
called the "Aunt Emily" approach to research. This approach used quotes 
from a few people, opinions not based on respected studies and facts taken 
out of context. The result is equal to whatever your "Aunt Emily" just 
might happen to think on any given day.

Also, I say enough with the invalid comparison to alcohol. Any worthwhile 
discussion of alcohol must confront the problems of severe domestic 
violence along with fatalities and injuries caused by driving under the 
influence.

Most importantly, proponents of legalization will not address the 
overwhelming force of addiction. Addiction has no boundaries, legal or illegal.

Well-meaning people have said, "Legalize it, tax it and use the money to 
teach more people not to use it." What drug cartel or dealer is going to 
happily pay taxes so we can use the money to teach people not to use their 
product? An underground market would appear overnight. Now we fight 
addiction to drugs; then we would also fight tax collection, lawsuits 
involving advertising and the violence of the underground market.

Words are powerful, so let's be honest about words. We call it "substance 
abuse" when we used to call it "using dope." We say it "impairs judgement" 
when we used to say, "it'll mess you up."

Marijuana is perhaps the most misunderstood of all. For instance, some 
advocate marijuana for medical purposes, while ignoring the outcry of the 
medical and scientific communities against this step. The 2001 Florida 
Youth Substance Abuse Survey of more than 8,000 students in grades six 
through 12 found the use of cocaine, heroin and LSD is down, but the use of 
marijuana among middle school students is up. The cause is attributed to 
the perception that marijuana is not harmful.

The key word here is perception, because students are not aware that the 
chemical changes in the brain resulting from this drug are complex and 
still being analyzed. Mistakenly, they view "psychologically additive" as 
not really addictive. It is.

What about apathy? The person who smokes on Saturdays may not realize that 
his lousy indifferent feeling on Wednesdays is not the result of his 
overall life, but the effects of marijuana. How sad not to know.

This drug has the potential to cause cancer. Sounds like another product we 
sell that is legal, doesn't it? Do we really want another "habit-forming" 
legal product causing cancer? Has taxation eradicated our problems? No.

Marijuana is far more harmful than we thought and that is why the Ad 
Council is now running that exact public message.

Education does work, and teenagers today are smarter than most people give 
them credit for. According to Monitor the Future, a national annual survey 
of 44,000 eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders, overall smoking, drinking and 
drug use is declining. If you think, "every one is doing it," you are 
hanging out with the wrong people. We, as adults, do not have the right to 
sit by and allow others to mislead our youths.

I didn't want to write about this issue and stir up all that pain. Yet I 
know that legalization is not the answer, so I have to speak up. Prevention 
and intervention are the answer. God help the kid who picks up for the 
first time.

Brenda Katz is chairperson of the Safe and Drug Free Schools Advisory 
Committee.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens