PARKER WRONG ABOUT BENIGN

To the editor:

I disagree with Parker Barss Donham's article, Just Who Are the Victims?
(April 2). Mr. Donham's opinion about the youths who were charged with
trafficking in narcotics is that they are the victims of `Tanya,' the
officer who spent two months at Dartmouth High School.

He believes that "puffing the odd joint is a common and benign pastime ..."
among many Canadians. This attitude is exactly what is causing problems
with today's youth.

Smoking marijuana may be a benign pastime in the large scheme of things,
but it is illegal nonetheless. It is a rule that our society must obey.

Allowing youths to get away with this kind of behaviour is just giving them
a message that tells them it's OK to break the rules and nobody will notice.

Well, if it's OK to break this small and meaningless rule, maybe it's OK to
break a more meaningful one. Mr. Donham seems to want society to turn into
one that allows children to break the rules with no consequences. But
what's breaking curfew in the large scheme of things? What's cleaning up
your toys at the end of the day going to accomplish in 10 year's time?

Parents who let their children get away with breaking these rules find out
that allowing this to happen only results in it being harder to discipline
them later. And sometimes it results in a behaviour that is more difficult
to deal with. So if we allow our youths to break such `benign' laws as
smoking and dealing marijuana, who's going to deal with the worse behaviour
that comes as a result?

If we can stop crime from happening before it happens, maybe it's not such
a waste of scarce resources.

Christine Hulme Colin
Eastern Passage