DRUG EDUCATOR ADVOCATES 'SAFETY FIRST'

Kids are going to see drugs. And more than half of them are going to use them.

As a result, there needs to be more than a "Just Say No" response, said
Marsha Rosenbaum, a California drug policy reformer.

"This is for parents that have tried abstinence," Rosenbaum said. "Parents
just want a fallback strategy, a Plan B, just in case [their children]
don't listen."

Rosenbaum was in Salt Lake City this week as part of an ongoing series of
training sessions by the Harm Reduction Project.

The project, based in Salt Lake City, focuses on keeping people safe while
they engage in risky behavior, which includes issues regarding drug use and
prostitution.

It is not unlike the controversial "safe sex" philosophy in which kids are
educated about condoms and family planning.

"It's like comprehensive sex education," Rosenbaum said. "For those kids
that are not abstaining, what do you do? That's really the question."

Opponents of methods other than abstinence fear such methods may actually
open the door to drug use or sexual activity.

Rosenbaum, who has a doctorate in medical sociology, was a mainstream drug
researcher two decades ago, using federal funding to study topics such as
heroin use among pregnant women. She shifted to drug education after
hearing her daughter's tale of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program
(DARE), which she believes relies heavily on fear tactics.

"Our abstinence methods aren't exactly taking," Rosenbaum said.

This is where Rosenbaum and law enforcement diverge, though.

Rosenbaum quotes studies, saying 54 percent of American teens will
experiment with drugs. Police, on the other hand, say programs like DARE
are putting a dent in illegal drug use.

"We're big DARE supporters," said Ken Wallentine, a public affairs official
for the Utah Peace Officers Association.

Giving any ground to the "harm reduction" philosophy is not an option."

"Our general philosophy is completely incompatible with the notion: 'We
should surrender to drugs,' " Wallentine said. "It's admitting we can't
keep drugs out of our communities. We can. We are doing a good job."

Drug education has been a hot topic since Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky
Anderson eliminated DARE funding in 2000. And earlier this year, Anderson
unveiled a list of seven freedoms people should expect. One of those was
allowing teachers to go beyond abstinence-only in public education.

Luciano Colonna, director of the Harm Reduction Project, said parents want
options.

"This is a natural way to talk to your children," Colonna said. "You don't
have to be involved with any harm reduction or progressive program."

That's where Rosenbaum's program, "Safety First," began.

The program started as a letter written by Rosenbaum, addressing her high
school son, printed in the San Francisco Chronicle in 1998. In it, she
advises her son to "use common sense" and "most of all, be safe."

"The response I got from parents was: 'This is exactly what I want to say
to my child,' " Rosenbaum said.

A short time later, the Drug Policy Alliance, a San Francisco-based drug
reform agency, published a 17-page "Safety First" brochure that outlined
options for parents worried that their children used drugs.

Today, Rosenbaum is teamed up with the California Parent Teacher
Association to get information to more parents.

Getting into classrooms in public schools remains the biggest challenge.
The reason: Federal funding prohibits any drug education philosophy other
than abstinence.