JUST SAYING NO IS EASIER SAID THAN DONE

Today, The Toughest Kids Are The Ones Who Don't Do Drugs.

This week I had the privilege of attending Wye elementary school's
DARE graduation.

Some of the students read essays to the audience and some of their
stories were shocking. In Grade 6, some of these children have already
been offered drugs and alcohol. They are not even teenagers, but they
have already been exposed to drugs. Thankfully, they had the courage
and maturity to decline.

Now these children are equipped with ways of resisting drugs, alcohol
and violence, but tough times lay ahead for them. Often the teenage
years are when people turn to drugs as a way of self-medicating. It is
a time of anxiety that can be hard to cope with.

Drugs are readily available in Sherwood Park, and not just marijuana.
We all have a role in making sure people don't start using.

Police have stepped up enforcement targeting drug dealers, but they
have no power in stopping the sale of pipes and other items used to
consume drugs.

Parents - it's your job to build trust with your child, but also to
make sure they are staying out of trouble. Your role is not to be
their friend.

Young people should be a strong support for their friends during
tumultuous times.

There is pressure from all around to use drugs.

Last week, we wrote about how the sale of drug pipes has led to The
Den's lease in the mall not being renewed. Perhaps tobacco enthusiasts
may prefer to smoke the product from a blown-glass pipe, although I
have never encountered such a person. The bongs in the store that are
emblazoned with a cannabis leaf are less subtle.

I spoke with the owner of Molly's Mini Mart, who was worried the
article may have painted all mini-marts with the same brush. They
don't all sell drug pipes or paraphernalia.

When she took possession of the store she got a dumpster and tossed
out the drug pipes that the previous owners sold. She said no corner
store in Sherwood Park sold these pipes.

I have been informed that the meth pipes at the mall have been removed
since that article, which is a start, but not a solution.

Hopefully, for the sake of children, and residents in general, these
pipes stay out of Sherwood Park stores.

Many people say marijuana is a harmless drug.

Tell that to the families of Tammy Engelking and Henry Yao. The two
were killed five years ago when James McIlwrick drove while high on
pot. McIlwrick was just sent to prison for his actions.

Certainly pot smokers aren't rowdy like drunks, or violent like crack
addicts, but take a look at the long-term effects of smoking marijuana.

Look at a chronic user of chronic and tell me there are no effects. I
am not saying alcohol is any less destructive, but sometimes people
are too soft on "soft" drugs.

I'm not the Mother Theresa of all DARE graduates, but my experience
has been a good enough teacher.