COUNTERPRODUCTIVE?

On Jan. 15, I heard what was presumably a public service announcement,
sponsored by the National Drug Policy Administration, warning parents of an
extremely dangerous drug.

The announcement solemnly intoned that this drug, which parents might think
could only be found on the street, is in fact found under almost every
kitchen sink. Inhalants, it announces, have now been tried by one out of
six grade-school children in an effort to get high. The ad went on to
admonish parents to talk to their children about inhalants.

What are we, stupid? Most of us were putting catches on our kitchen cabinet
doors to keep children out of these things before there was ever a National
Drug Policy Administration.

What troubles me, and should trouble anyone else who cares about children,
is that this announcement told children where these inhalants are, told
them that one out of six grade-school children has already used them to get
high . . .

Already a dismal failure in the Great Drug War, the government seemingly
now wants to expand that war to encompass household cleansers, aerosols,
etc. That is bad enough, but let's not tell the grade-school children where
to find them

Gerhard Kleinschmidt

Aledo