SCHOOL'S POLICY ON DRUGS IS ALL WRONG

This letter is in regard to the story, "Drug-free zone targeted for
Ballenas" (The News, Tuesday, Dec. 21).

Students at Ballenas Secondary School must be thrilled to know that they
are being treated a whole lot more like prisoners than like students.

Ironically, if they get caught with drugs at school, they may get sent to
jail, where drugs are even more available.

Or they could be kicked out of school, unable to get a job, turn to crime.

Then they would be sent to jail - where once again, drugs are even more
available.

In the coming years, it appears that we will have to build more jails, and
fewer schools.

I agree that kids should not be using drugs.

However this policy seems to be mostly for show, and will do nothing to
curb drug use, in general, only drug use at school.

When are police and school officials going to learn that their
zero-tolerance, "just say no" propaganda, and their demonizing of drugs is
in actual fact what is causing these problems?

In fact, the whole country is already a "drug free zone" in reality,
because drugs are illegal across the whole country.

Police, courts, parents, school officials, and especially our lazy and
inept federal government officials, need to get something into their heads:
If drug prohibition were ever going to work, it would have done so by now.

Russell Barth, Educators for a Sensible Drug Policy, Ottawa