DRUG USE EITHER ACCEPTABLE OR NOT

Each year during a health lesson related to drug use, I ask: "How many
of you know where you could buy marijuana if you wanted it?"

Each year I am surprised, not just by the number who say they know,
but more so by the number in grades 6 to 8 who know.

I expect senior high school students to know someone who can supply
them and thus the virtual one hundred percent response doesn't shock
me, but when more than half of a grade 6 or 7 class knows where to buy
it, I have to shake my head.

When did we decide that marijuana use is acceptable while
simultaneously determining that distributing it remains illegal?

The result of this moral conundrum is that we are turning a blind eye
to drug use, and thus implicitly endorsing it to our children, while
criminals are creating elaborate distribution systems to bring it to
every schoolyard and ensuring that billions of dollars are funneled
into the hands of people with little or no respect for the rule of
law.

Why are we surprised that there are almost daily shootings in the turf
wars of such a lucrative business? Drug dealers did not create the
drug problem. They filled the hole of demand. The more marijuana use
became mainstream, the greater the demand became and the greater the
need for a widespread network of dealers to supply product to an eager
consumer base.

And since this network has no rule of law, it is open for business 24
hours a day, seven days a week, everywhere and anywhere. It's no
wonder kids know where to get it, and can get it on demand. Senior
high school students often tell me it is easier to get drugs than
alcohol, and while I have only referred to marijuana so far, the
distribution system offers much more powerful drugs than that to
anyone who is willing to pay for them. From marijuana to ecstasy is a
classic bait and switch marketing strategy.

I read recently that drinking and driving is actually on the decline.
Some of this might be demographic, with an aging population. But more
likely it is because the number of drivers under the influence of
drugs has gone up dramatically. We haven't solved the problem of
drivers under the influence, just changed the influence.

This certainly isn't making our roads any safer, as altered
perceptions, regardless of the method used to alter them, reduce
appropriate response times and, thus, increase the risk of accidents.

If marijuana is no big deal and law enforcement are asked to turn a
blind eye, then legalize it and tax the daylights out of it. Treat it
like alcohol and put it in the hands of the government. At least then
the billions can go into health care for the potheads who have
respiratory issues in 20 years.

If regular casual drug use is not where we want to head as a society,
then we need to create a much stiffer form of response to distributors
and users. We need the political willpower, law enforcement capability
and parental determination to stamp it out once and for all. The
current status of turning a blind eye to casual use while asserting to
be concerned with the drug cartels makes absolutely no sense, morally
or practically. Recreational drug use is either acceptable or not
acceptable. Make a decision, then set up a system that creates the
least risk of criminal behaviour and inappropriate access for children.

As a parent, I never relied on the school system or the legal system
to educate my children about drugs. I made it very black and white to
them how I felt about it and I reinforced my feelings with routines at
home and monitoring mechanisms in their social lives to make it very
difficult for them to err. It remains my assertion that recreational
drug use is a significant threat to the safety and well-being of young
people and it breaks my heart to hear each year that it seems to be
getting easier for children to get their hands on drugs.