DRUG CULTURE

Re. New charges in drug death (Gazette, Feb. 15): I see some things
never change in Hudson. When I left Quebec in 1985, at the age of 16,
it was possible to buy drugs of all kinds from people as young as 14.
This was during the "Just Say No" years, and that rhetoric was as
much of a joke then as it is now.

The 16-year old youth will need to take responsibility for his
actions, but when is our hypocritical society going to take
responsibility for setting up this dangerous prohibitionist drug
market for them to play in?

When will adults stop lying and exaggerating "the dangers of illegal
drugs", when junk food and alcohol will kill more people than all
drugs combined?

The thing that never seems to change is the way any "drug problem"
that arises is someone else's fault. It is always the music, the TV,
the school, the kids, but never the real problem - prohibition.

We need to admit that we all live in a drug culture where beer is
advertised during Hockey Night In Canada, right next to fast cars,
fast food, Viagra, and video games. We give kids Ritalin instead of
cutting back their sugar and game-boy intake, then tell them "Don't
do drugs! Drugs are bad."

Kids know when they are being conned. When we make the same mistakes
our parents made, is it any wonder kids don't listen to adults any
more than we did?

Russell Barth

Ottawa