NEW DRUG APPROACH

I worked at Malibu High School for nearly a decade. Based both on my
experience there, and as a concerned citizen and community member, it
is my belief that the parents are not to blame for the constant
substance abuse problems at HMS. Nor is the school itself. The fault
lies with the Drug War. And with "Zero Tolerance."

Humankind have been using mind-altering substances since Paleolithic
times. This will always be. I do not condone substance abuse in our
kids. But unless and until we address the cultural, psychological, and
even spiritual aspects of mind alteration we will be in no position to
help our kids. And experience has proven that harm reduction should at
least be tried as an alternative to zero tolerance.

In conversations with many kids, including those that partake of
mind-altering substances and those who do not, I find that a certain
consensus emerges. The fact that so many kids are stressed out and
overtired leads them to abuse prescription drugs. They feel that it
helps them relax and "zone" out.

Drug testing has been suggested, but in a way it has made the problem
worse. It has caused many kids to move from cannabis to the much more
dangerous drugs. The reason being that cannabis can be picked up by
most tests for as long as a month. The harder drugs can only be
detected for a few days. Kids therefore plan their drug sessions based
on their parents travel plans. Such truths are never brought out at
school and community meetings. Instead school officials are left to
mutter wishy-washy mealy-mouthed cliches. The kids get more candor
from the culture, and sadly in some cases from their dealers, than
they do from the school. This leads them to find pleasure in the most
dangerous drug of them all: cynicism.

Let me emphasize that I in no way condone adolescent drug use. But the
current Draconian attitude has been given decades to prove itself.
Look at the dismal results. Our society could help by legalizing
cannabis for adults while emphasizing that it is a perk that teenagers
are not ready for.

At a time when such fresh change is happening at the national level it
is ironic to see our school and community leaders still hanging on to
the same stale and failed cliches of the drug war. Our kids know that
parameters must be set, but they want to know that these parameters
are based on some kind of reality and efficacy. Let us try a new
approach that may not only lead to less drug abuse, but also manifest
itself with greater and more rewarding communication with our kids.

Lenny Shaw