DRUG REPORT CLARIFIED

Editor:

I presented my report to the school board recently and received very
positive comments and feedback from all trustees.

I welcomed comments by trustees who raised concerns and opinions about
treatment versus enforcement issues and ways of communicating effective drug
education to students.

I was disappointed to read Danna Johnson's negative and inaccurate account.

Along with the trustees who voiced common concerns about tougher penalties
and the definition of harm reduction, were other trustees who applauded my
direction and commented at length on aspects of the report that supported
more treatment options and increased parental contact and school
connectedness. All trustees warmly received the report and understood the
value of its aims.

None of this came through in Ms. Johnson's article and few of the many
critical recommendations made in the report were mentioned.

My report was more than a plug for harm reduction and, of course, it is not
a cure by itself.

Part of my aim is to raise awareness through media and it is critical that
the media report on this serious issue in an accurate and intelligent way.

Articles like this reduce the issue to a drug-czar versus treatment
polarity, which it certainly is not.

The adolescent drug-use situation is a very complex one and our community
needs to be accurately informed about what the school district and community
are doing to make schools safer places to be while also offering support to
the students who have found themselves misusing substances.

Angela Lawrence

Kamloops