WHY DO YOUTH SEEK DRUGS?

Congratulations to the ODT ( ODT, 2.2.01 ) for reprinting an editorial from
the Evening Post that shows schools in Hutt Valley are cracking down on the
drug scene as a necessary measure to counter the encroaching drug culture of
cannabis and other substances in the school yard. The co-operative efforts
of police, teachers and parents are fighting the insidious growth of drugs
in schools. This is the kind of contest that requires a community-wide
approach, including church and welfare groups, to get kids to say "no" to
drugs.

We should look carefully at why our youth seek recreational drugs to obtain
a thrill out of life. Perhaps, like the civilisations of the past, a
goalless, soulless society is all the current television-obsessed culture of
the 20th century delivers. It does not say much for what qualities in life
our children are acquiring as a result of education.

Michael Groffman, St Clair

[Abridged. - Ed.]