DRUGS ARE BAD? OK, BUT LET US IN ON THE DETAILS

Our state spends a lot of money each year on drug education.

To graduate, students need two health classes, one in middle school and one
in high school, that touch on the evils of drugs. In addition, the DARE
program in many schools rewards children who memorize facts on the hazards
and consequences of substance abuse. This is to ensure that most of those
sweet little angels don't grow into chronic dopers or helpless heroin addicts.

All very well and good. I'm sure the information deters some students from
trying hard-core drugs right off the bat.

But according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than half of
high school seniors have used illicit drugs at least once, and nearly four
out of five have used alcohol. A small portion of them will become chronic
users or graduate to ever more hard-core substances, with disastrous results.

Why? The bottom line is that the health classes and textbooks aren't enough
to satisfy anyone's curiosity.

I went through the DARE program in middle school, but it gave few details
beyond bare statistics. In short: These drugs are bad for you.

This was good for as long as I was young enough to take every adult's word
as holy law. But by high school, I was eager for a more detailed
explanation. I had been hoping my ninth-grade class would describe exactly
how drugs made you feel, and give a solid reason for not using a drug just
once as an experiment.

Perhaps what I was expecting was a reading assignment of a drug addict's
memoirs, a trip to a rehab center or lectures by past drug users. What I
got was another dry treatise by a teacher who had never used a drug and did
not care to come into contact with anyone who had.

I remember the books about drugs that I looked at in anti-drug classes. The
drug user was invariably a villainous character, corroded and sick, living
only to hook his friends. No reason was given for this drive to addict
others, no description of how the shady pusher evolved out of an ordinary
person.

The whole attitude was unbalanced. It registered immediately as a deception
and threw up walls between students and adults. It made young people even
less likely to listen to anti-drug talk and more likely to experiment on
their own. If the approach treated a drug addict not as a criminal but as
an ordinary Joe who made some bad decisions, it would get a much better
reception.

Young people are not stupid. If they were given good enough reasons and a
more forgiving attitude, fewer would become addicted. As it is, they are
adapting to drug use with intelligence and increasing effectiveness.

More and more, I hear of precautionary measures being taken. A friend who
uses marijuana has a sober buddy nearby to make sure he does nothing
stupid. Most of the alcohol parties I get word of designate sober drivers
for the ride home afterward.

The general attitude is that if some people want to use substances in a way
that does not harm society, it's their business. I agree, but I do find it
very sad that talented individuals choose for recreation something that
will eventually destroy a part of them. Drugs are one of those split-road
choices in life. You don't know for sure where they will lead you, or how
they'll change you. My suggestion to schools: Can the textbooks.

Instead, take a field trip to a substance rehabilitation center. Then set
the drugs out on a table and see how many people pick them up.

Anna Call is a junior at Cazenovia High School.