WAR ON DRUGS BEGINS IN CLASSROOM

Dear Editor:

Legislation finishes a distant second to education when it comes to
changing people's minds and behaviour.

Ask yourself if labelling bottles of booze warning expectant mothers of the
hazards of indulging will lessen physical and mental deformities among
newborns; ask yourself if jacking the tax on smokes will cut into the
30-some per cent of Canadian teens lighting up, young people who sport the
plastic at the malls and carry a cell on their hip.

Lawmaking may soothe some consciences on the hill or better still help the
incumbent get another turn on the merry-go-round, but in real terms it's
all about smoke and mirrors, a ploy to make us believe that they're in
power instead of human nature.

A recent 10-day drivers' blitz in Waterloo Region bagged hundreds of
motorists, most for speeding, all of which should mean safer roads over the
coming months. Drivers will reign in their steeds, don their seat belts,
and become models of decorum on the streets. The net result is a lot of
cursing, less respect for the boys in blue and a momentary easing of pedal
pressure, not to mention a giddy regional coffer.

Legislation chooses to ignore the fact that man above all else is
resourceful, bent on discovering the easiest path between A and B, a
positive attribute; for who was it that brought TB to its knees and sent
polio packing, albeit after it had done major damage? So when taxes rise on
cigarettes, the St. Lawrence becomes a boater's paradise and luggage gives
way to contraband in car trunks. Crack down on prostitutes and they're back
plying their trade the next night.

The key is to get to our young people before they've been tainted by a
society that values material things over family; a society crazed with
being happy rather than productive; a society that's forgotten what it is
to be ashamed.

Take the billions in tax dollars from smoke, booze and gas, develop
curriculums for our primary grade students an flood their minds with why
it's downright stupid to abuse their bodies with foreign substances.

The war against drugs and other vices won't be won in the alleys and in the
halls of justice but by caring teachers in classrooms where real progress
could take place before it's too late.

Jim Newton
New Dundee