COMPLEXITIES AND HYPOCRISIES OF DRUG LAWS

Perhaps some Laurie Jr. Secondary parents can take some solace in the
trials and tribulations of Jenna and Barbara Bush. The President's
daughters are in trouble again, as are 26 Laurie students, who were bounced
from school this week for mixing marijuana with their studies.

But with Jenna and Barbara it's booze and not the devil weed that's the
source of their distress. The pair got nabbed recently for underage
drinking in a Mexican restaurant close to the university they both attend.

The laws, such as they are in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave,
do not allow Americans to drink under the age of 21. This silliness creates
literally millions of young lawbreakers in the country that once embraced
prohibition. Ironically the minimum drinking age was raised to 21 by former
Republican President Ronald Regean in response to concerns about American
soldiers' drug use during the Viet Nam War. Pretty damn hypocritical, don't
you think? They could go halfway around the world and die in a civil war
that was none of their business, but they weren't allowed to belly up to
the bar when they got home.

Hypocrisy doesn't wash well with young people. Even an old fart like me
remembers that. So can you blame teenagers in Canada today for thinking our
society is a tad hypocritical about the drug issue?

We just had an election in B.C. where only three parties ran a full slate
of candidates and one of these was the Marijuana Party. Talk about mixed
messages!

The kids go to school and are hit with a barrage of anti-drug propaganda.
Then they pick up the newspaper or turn on the TV to see their local
Marijuana Party candidate telling them that pot has medicinal properties
(true) that it should be legalized (false) and if it was legalized, it
would be good for the economy (possibly). Can you blame the kids for being
a bit mixed up on this issue?

There is probably no issue in society today more mired in hypocrisy than
drugs. We label some drugs "hard;" others "soft." Some legal; others
illegal, but there is no discernible logic in how these labels are applied.
Alcohol is legal, but it destroys thousands of lives, causes death and
mayhem on the roads and ruins marriages and careers. How did such a
dangerous drug ever become legalized? (And no, I won't even go there.)

Tobacco is legal, but it supposedly kills every second smoker if we can
believe the ads of the anti-smoking lobby. Open up your medicine cabinet at
home. There are dozens of legal drugs there, yet some of them can do great
harm if not used properly or used to excess. We're a drug-saturated
society. Who could possibly deny it?

Which brings us to the marijuana debate. Let's deal with the myths on both
sides. Pot is harmless, argue the more extreme element of the pro-marijuana
crowd.

B.S! Any smoke that you inhale and hold in your lungs for a long period of
time doesn't do you any good and is probably doing outright physical harm
to your body. And pot, perhaps dope is the better word, also has subtle,
long-term effects. People who smoke dope regularly tend to get, well,
dopey. Pot kills incentive and desire and creates lethargy. Feeling
lethargic is sometimes not a bad thing, but no one wants to be feel
lethargic and fuzzy all the time. Young people need to be told this. It's
far better information than the "devil weed" propaganda they're often fed
at school.

Nor is there physical evidence that pot acts as a so-called "gateway" to
harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin. But that's only part of the story.
Common sense says people who regularly smoke pot are more likely to
experiment with other drugs that could lead to serious addictions down the
line.

And teenagers, who are getting high during school noon hours whether it's
pot, beer or cigarettes, should take a serious look at their lifestyle.

Doing that is plain ignorant. It shows immaturity; not maturity. And most
importantly in the case of pot, it's illegal and can lead to very serious
consequences that can mean jail, a criminal record, an inability to enter
other countries like the U.S. and destroy future job and career prospects.

Hardly worth the effort, don't you think?

Pot may well be decriminalized some day, but that's several years down the
line yet. In the meantime as parents and teachers, I think the main message
we've got to get out is that regardless of the more liberal attitudes that
seem to be brewing these days, marijuana is still subject to the provisions
of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and those are very serious
consequences indeed.

If you want to get high, get high on life. It's a much better and safer
high and has a great advantage over any drug-induced high because it's legal.