DRUG POLICY ADDED TO METH PROBLEM

Facts omitted from coverage of the meth scare meeting at Philomath
Middle School are as follows:

Total lack of scientific evidence for harmfulness of meth -- or any
other banned drug.

Total refusal of drug war advocates to debate or discuss drug problem
issues with critics like myself. I was not invited to speak there. A
good rule of thumb: If I am not invited to speak at a forum on drug
problems, the sponsors are hiding from the truth and trying to
mislead the public.

There are no drug-specific standards for either the Food and Drug
Administration or the Drug Enforcement Agency; it's entirely about
the class of people who misuse drugs. Before the DEA stepped in, meth
was far less serious a problem than the current "Ambien driver"
problem. Smoking or injecting was very rare, users committed little
crime and there were no amateur chemists operating meth labs with no
quality control in low-income areas like Philomath. Our families are
endangered because of stupid drug policy and not "dangerous drugs."

The biggest obstacle to ending bad policy is peer pressure. You don't
rat out colleagues who scam without risk to professional careers. Our
school leaders, law enforcement people, news editors and elected
leaders have shown zero resistance to peer pressure. They blithely
ignore Jesus' command to "tell the truth" in response to peer
pressure. The only way to minimize drug problems is through honest
discussion. It won't happen until more people give support to our
leaders to resist peer pressure.

Jeff T. Barrie

Philomath