MARIJUANA IS A HEALTH ISSUE, NOT A CRIMINAL ONE

Re: Students Learn Drug Lesson, Dec. 11

As a federal medical marijuana licence holder who is also married to
one, I deeply resent this policy.

Drug use is a health issue, and we should have nurses instructing
kids about them, not cops. Sending in a cop to talk to kids about
drugs is like sending in a priest to teach them about sex; "Just
don't do it, mister, or you'll be in big trouble." Especially the
notoriously dishonest RCMP!

Also, the fact taxpayers' dollars are used for this fear and fealty
campaign is sick and reprehensible in the extreme. It should be
illegal to go into schools and deliberately frighten and mislead
kids, but no, we use taxpayers' dollars to send cops in to do it. It
isn't just irresponsible; it is obscene.

These drug "education" programs use non-factual information; they
foster resentment towards drug users; they monger fear and spin
things with balderdash. They downplay marijuana's well-documented
medicinal values (for example), exaggerate its supposed dangers, and
put forth debunked and outdated junk science as fact.

Some studies even show that these "scare 'em straight" programs
increases drug use. Don't believe me? Since DARE started back in the
1980s, pot use among Canadian teens has quadrupled!

The only good this program has ever done is make millions of kids
realize that cops are incapable of telling the truth when it comes to
drugs. As soon as they hear all this "One joint and you are hooked
for life" reefer madness, they go check the Internet; and realize
they have been systematically lied to.

In that way, the police completely undermine their own credibility,
fostering even more resentment towards authority. And that is a good
thing HOW, exactly?

If only they would temper its "say no or else" message with some
actual scientific truth, it might be worth saving. As it is, it
should be outlawed. Beyond that, the RCMP should be disbanded for
(among other things) continuing to lobby for more drug prohibition.

For those keen on teaching kids about drugs without all the
hypocritical balderdash of the DARE program, I recommend Educators
For Sensible Drug Policy, www.efsdp.org.

Russell Barth,

Federal medical marijuana licence holder,

Patients Against Ignorance and Discrimination on Cannabis (PAIDOC) Ottawa