DRUG-FREE ZONES ABSURD

Let me be the first to stand and applaud Doug Hickey for showing some
increasingly rare common sense about drugs.

Drug-free zones are just silly. If they really worked, then why not just
declare the entire city a "drug-free" zone? Like magic, the drug problem is
instantly solved. Better yet, how about just declaring the entire country a
"drug-free" zone -- or even the entire world? All we have to do is speak the
words and set up a few signs and no one will ever use drugs again.

"Drug-free" zones are simply absurd. They are a sign that the people who
created them really have no clue what to do about the problem and think they
can solve it with a magical "abracadabra." Now that drug-free zones are an
obvious failure maybe they will try to call in Spiderman.

In the meantime, anyone who really wants to find a solution - and is able to
read something more learned than comic books - should take the time to read
the collection of Major Studies of Drugs and Drug Policy at
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer. It is time for the educators to educate
themselves. If they did, they would find something very interesting.
Historically speaking, the biggest single cause of drug epidemics among
children is silly, ill-considered anti-drug campaigns.

Clifford Schaffer

Director, DRCNet Online Library of Drug Policy