Pubdate: Tue, 11 Jan 2005
Source: Williams Lake Tribune, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005 Williams Lake Tribune
Contact:  http://www.wltribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1226
Author: Erinn Brown

ARE DRUGS IN OUR SCHOOLS?

When most people think of the drug culture, they may think of the 60's and 
70's, criminals in back alleys, or people lying in gutters, broken needles 
by their sides.

What seems to be a relatively unspoken truth in polite modern society is 
the prevalence of the use of various drugs, not to mention alcohol and 
cigarettes, among youth in today's high schools.

And it's not just the purported "bad kids" that are dealing and using these 
narcotics. It may be your friendly next door neighbour, the "smart kid" 
with straight 'A's, the sports fanatic, or your own child.

The unlikely types that keep their noses clean and follow the rules; that 
is until they're behind closed doors.

As early as the eighth grade, marijuana becomes available for a price 
easily affordable for youth who still receive an allowance or get paid to 
mow the lawn. Knowledge of who sells the drug quickly circulates, and weed 
often changes hands between classes in school hallways.

It feels exciting and dangerous for kids buying for the first time, but a 
few years of high school pass and it becomes surprising to find anyone who 
hasn't tried a joint for themselves. It becomes the norm: a harmless drug 
that provides a little buzz.

The cycle of drug use and addiction could be stopped or at least slowed at 
this point if the government would take some initiative and allow RCMP 
officers to search schools with drug-sniffing dogs, but surely that would 
be viewed as an invasion of privacy.

Even when caught in the act, a group of teens passing a "doobie" around for 
each person to smoke were not, at least in one case, arrested by police or 
expelled from their school (probably because they were not on school 
property). A student attending class, clearly acting irregularly and 
smelling of sweet smoke, was merely reprimanded by the supervising teacher, 
who said aloud that she knew he/she was on drugs, and the student was sent 
neither to the office nor the counsellors. With bongs, pipes, and other 
paraphanalia available in local stores, it's not hard for those who may 
otherwise punish this type of behavior to brush it off as insignificant.

It is not, however, the marijuana itself that is the major problem, 
although it has been proven to kill brain cells, impair driving, and to be 
harmful to the lungs.

Cigarettes and alcohol are both legal (although the former definitely 
should not be), and so what's the problem with a little pot, right?

The fact is, that unless a person is growing and rolling their own 
marijuana, it's impossible to know exactly what substances are being 
combined with the plant itself.

Marijuana users report having suspected crystal meth and shrooms, among 
other possibly more dangerous things being laced in their joints.

The casual attitude taken towards weed leads many naive youngsters to 
believe that drugs on the whole are harmless, which can lead to more risky 
habits.

The types of drugs available to high school students run the spectrum from 
magic mushrooms, to crystal meth, to crack cocaine, to rare instances of 
perscription drugs, and other, harder to find narcotics.

Usually students don't try these types of drugs, if they choose to try them 
at all, until their later high school years.

For some youth with less resolve, peer pressure leads them to use their 
friends' substance of choice for the first time (although they would never 
admit it was anything other than their own free choice). It becomes a 
recreational activity, especially for kids bored with the few other options 
they see available to them in a small town, and it may lead to the downward 
spiral hoped only to happen to "other people."
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MAP posted-by: Beth