Pubdate: Wed, 17 Aug 2005
Source: Summit Daily News (CO)
Copyright: 2005 Summit Daily News
Contact:  http://www.summitdaily.com/home.php
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/587
Author: Bill Bauer
Referenced:  http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05.n1344.a04.html

DRINKING, DRUG LESSONS FOR TEENS MUST BE DELIVERED HONESTLY

Undersheriff and drug commander Derek Woodman was right on point when
he was quoted as saying, "Do I think it was different when I was in
high school? Not really." (SDN, "Teenage Wasteland?" Aug. 15).

At the inner city Roman Catholic high school I attended in the late
1950s, some of my classmates shot up with heroin in the johns and more
than a few nipped stolen hard booze after school, often just as their
parents did on the job and in cramped apartments.

As the late poet Richard Brautigan wrote, "My teachers could have
ridden with Jesse James for all the hours they stole from me."

I'm convinced from personal observation, though I have no statistics
to back me up, that today's widespread drug use and venereal disease
are legacies of the Vietnam War. Disillusioned vets brought them back
after being forced to participate in the Big Lie. We called herpes the
"red siff."

I recall, too, how I began as an adolescent to notice that many WWII
combat veterans were closet alcoholics - shell shock from the war, my
father euphemistically explained to me.

It has been postulated recently that throughout history, the human
animal has shown an inclination to seek physical highs in one form or
another. The novelist Harry Crews ("The Gospel Singer") once said he
believed the cause of mischief in the world is not evil or sin but
"boredom, dammit, boredom."

I know that the problem of teenage drinking and drug abuse is serious
and must be dealt with. But it must be dealt with honestly and with
emphasis on the tragic health consequences they cause. Otherwise,
teens will ignore any efforts to educate them in the adverse effects
of drugs, just as their parents and other adults have.

Bill Bauer

Silverthorne
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin