Pubdate: Fri, 24 Feb 2012 Source: Beaumont News (CN AB) Copyright: 2012 Sun Media Contact: http://thebeaumontnews.ca/feedback1/LetterToEditor.aspx Website: http://www.thebeaumontnews.ca/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5093 Author: Eric Brisson (Grade 5 student, J.E. Lapointe School) STUDENTS AT BEAUMONT SCHOOLS ARMED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE TO 'JUST SAY NO' Don't do it! Stop! Think about it! - That pretty much explains what DARE is. Let me tell you why. You know that alcohol, drugs (like marijuana, etc.) and tobacco are bad for you, but you don't know much. And golly, there's much more than that. Let me start off with some facts for why alcohol, drugs and tobacco is bad for you. Let me start off with tobacco. You probably know some of these already. Like that smoking with cigarettes is the most common way to use tobacco. You also probably know that it causes heart disease. It can also cause breathing problems. That means if you just smoke a small cigarette, it could kill you. It's a shock, right? Plus, it gets worse. Even if you survive, it could make your life miserable. Smoking tobacco is the leading cause of cancer of the mouth, throat, bladder and the kidney. It can also affect your body's development. You've heard of frostbite, right? This is worse. Your body is still growing and with the tobacco going in to your body, and it could start acting different. Did you know that tobacco has over 200 known poisons? It's like drinking gasoline! Plus, those are only the known poisons. Tobacco is even worse than this! Tobacco also has nicotine, a powerfully addictive substance. Now, let's talk about alcohol. You may not think alcohol is still bad for you. It slows down your brain and body with loss of self-control and slurred speech. Too much alcohol can give you a coma and even cause death. Alcohol goes into your bloodstream and might increase the chances of a bunch of diseases and sicknesses. It can also damage every organ in your body. The good thing is that alcohol is illegal to anyone under 18 and most teens don't drink alcohol. Alcohol is worse for teens because their body is still growing and can hurt you more severely. Alcohol is a depressant drug. This means that it can slow down parts of your brain that can change your thinking, behaviour, breathing and heart rate. Did you know that a beer has the same amount of alcohol as a glass of wine? That's shocking! Marijuana is even worse though. Marijuana causes breathing problems and affects your brain and body like short-term memory loss or no ability to concentrate. These people that smoke marihuana also have more colds. As you probably know, marijuana is addictive. It has more than 400 chemicals including the cancer causing ones found in tobacco. There is tons of tar in marijuana. That's like eating a fresh new road! The people that use marijuana have an increased risk of cancer. Marijuana is also illegal in Canada. Another name for marijuana is cannabis, which has all the effects of marijuana but also slows reaction time and impairs motor coordination and concentration. When you get into drug-related problems you must think of some reasons about this decision. I use the fabulous and fantastic DARE method! First, you D: Define what is happening in the situation. Once you've thought of the situation, go on to A: Assess. This is where you think of all the choices that you have. Most of the answers that you may have could be: Yes, No, Saying No and Giving A Reason or Walking Away. Those are some pretty simple answers. That means that it's easy to make drug-related decisions, but you have to make the right decision. Next is, R: Respond. This is where you give out the answer. After R is, E: Evaluate. This is where you think about your decision. A main question to ask your self is, "Will somebody other than me be proud for making this decision?" That question will assure that you made the right choice. It's hard to change a mistake so make the right choice! DARE taught me tons of things that I didn't know about drugs and violence. It affected me by learning more and more bad things about drugs. They're horrible for you. Trust me. I've seen what drugs and violence does to you and I don't want that to happen to me. Do you want to look bad, have people judge you to everybody and to everybody on Facebook, e-mail, Twitter and text message? That would be really scary! This knowledge that you will learn will come in handy throughout your life. I hope you have tons of fun in DARE. Luckily, you could get to sit with Daren, an awesome stuffed mascot! You can almost see him waving goodbye. Pledge Statement: I, Eric Brisson commit to never taking drugs, smoking cigarette or using tobacco. I will also not drink alcohol under age. I promise to make wise decisions when it comes to drugs and alcohol. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.