COLUMN SENSATIONALIZED DRUG USE AT SHS

Re. "Use vs. abuse" by Jeff McAbee, opinion, Dec. 9

As a Summit High School alum, reading Jeff McAbee's column on drugs
and alcohol at Summit was far from surprising. I think, especially for
the kids attending Summit High, alcohol/drugs being done amongst
students is no secret. As an insider, I can understand the appalled
reaction of finding PBR cans in the trash, but accusing students of
using crystal meth?

Jeff made a couple huge accusations in his article that I think were
very inappropriate, especially coming from a one-year employee. He
started off the article basically saying that a little weed and a
little alcohol was typical, and then grouped it with meth, LSD,
cocaine - I found that to be wildly offensive, coming from an employee
at a school situated in Breckenridge, which two years ago legalized
marijuana.

I give McAbee major props for writing an article like this and
discussing this problem as a new employee, but by lumping together
these substances, Jeff sensationalized and dramatized the situation,
making readers lose focus. There's a huge difference between the rare
and few hard-drug takers and the kids who occasionally smoke weed and
drink at SHS - a statement McAbee should have included in the article.
The biggest problems at Summit High are alcohol and marijuana. It has
been since my freshman year of high school, it still is today. By
throwing out meth, cocaine and LSD, the real problems at Summit High
were watered down and replaced by the more dramatic substances, ones
rarely, if at all, used by students. McAbee said that drugs and
alcohol weren't abused by the "majority of the students." That's true.
An even greater majority of the students don't use meth or LSD or
cocaine. They just smoke a little weed and drink a little beer, which
is "harmless, right?"

Marguerite Truckey

Breckenridge