WHY WE NEED HONEST SEX -- AND DRUG -- EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS

Nyc's Mayor Bloomberg Has Made Sex Education Mandatory, but We Need
the Same Thing for Drugs -- Let's Stop Pretending That Teenagers Won't
Take Them

The Bloomberg Administration announced on July 9 that New York City
students will be required to receive sex education in public middle
and high schools.

These sex education classes will teach about condom use and the
appropriate age for sexual activity.

I applaud the Mayor's campaign to teach sex education in
school.

While many parents may hope that their teenagers won't be sexually
active, the reality is that most teenagers will have sex and it is
important that they are educated about the risks of pregnancy and
sexual transmitted diseases like HIV.

The same principles and goals of sex education should be applied to
another issue that parents have to deal with when it comes to teen
safety -- and that is drug education.

The same way sex education advocates acknowledge that not all teens
will be abstinent and need to learn how to protect themselves and be
safe, we need to acknowledge that not all teens are going to abstain
from drug use and they also need to be provided honest drug education
that will keep them safe. That's why the Drug Policy Alliance
developed the "Safety First" program to provide parents and teachers
will a fallback strategy for teens who say "sometimes" or "maybe".

While many schools already provide honest sex education that
acknowledges the reality that some teens will have sex, our nation's
drug education programs treat abstinence as the sole measure of
success and the only acceptable teaching option.

This simplistic and unrealistic "education" does not acknowledge the
reality that 75% of teens will try alcohol and 50% will try marijuana
before they graduate.

Instead of giving our teens honest information about drugs, we have
police go into schools give them reefer madness.

Too many abstinence-only programs try to scare young people away from
trying drugs by highlighting phony horror stories -- "if you use
marijuana use may turn you into a homeless heroin addict." Yet, the
vast majority of people who try marijuana never become addicted or go
on to try harder drugs.

This leads to many teens ignoring all the drug information relayed to
them by people in authority.

Once we lose our credibility, it is harder for them to hear the
messages that they truly need to hear, like the most dangerous thing
you can do it get in a car with someone who has been drinking or high.

Honest drug education would tell young people about the true effects
and consequences -- good, bad and terrifying -- that can happen from a
range of drugs like alcohol, marijuana and prescription pills.

One area of substantial progress when it comes to young people and
drugs is the campaign against cigarette smoking.

This campaign treats teens with respect and gives honest information
about smoking's consequences. Teens also can see the harm of cigarette
smoking in the lives of their loved ones.

Ironically, one of the most harmful effects of marijuana for young
people -- especially for young blacks and Latinos in New York -- is
getting arrested by the police.

Under Mayor Bloomberg, marijuana arrests have exploded, with more than
50,000 marijuana arrests in NYC in 2010 alone. Close to 90% of those
arrested are black and Latino, despite the fact that white people are
just as likely to use or sell marijuana. These out of control
marijuana arrests are happening despite the fact that under an ounce
is supposed to be a ticket, not an arrest.

The only time someone should be arrested with under an ounce of
marijuana is if the person is smoking it or the marijuana is in "plain
view". The police stop and frisk mostly young people of color and
trick them to show them what they have in their pockets.

Once the marijuana is pulled out, the police say that it is in "plain
view" and they arrest them. Once someone is arrested there is a whole
set of collateral consequences like loss of student financial aid,
public housing etc. Young people knowing their rights and not pulling
the small amount of marijuana out of their pocket is honest drug
education that would be of valuable use to NY teenagers.

While it may be hard for parents to hear, large percentages of teens
will have sex and will try drugs before they graduate.

I admire New York and Bloomberg for recognizing the need for honest
sex education.

It is time for us to recognize that we also need for honest drug
education.

We need to drop "Just Say NO" and replace it with "Just Say Know". We
need our teens to know that the bottom line is that we love them and
we want them to be safe.