WHEN WORDS DON'T SOLVE THE DRUG PROBLEM

I was astonished at Elaine Dunbar's arguments (Forum, January 24) on drug
testing students. She suggested drug testing our senators, law makers, or
even the President instead of the students. Fine, let them be tested too,
but I am convinced that most of them were already given a drug test. The big
question is where we have the biggest drug abuse problems. Among the school
age children-that's what all the newspapers report. Children are our
future-is it not what we have been saying? Then' we'd better do something
about our future.

"The testing in itself implies a distrust or accusation of drug use..."-says
Ms. Dunbar. Then what does the screening of all and frisking of selected
passengers at the airports mean? Have you protested against it too?

Yes, it implies a distrust, because drug users don't come forward to say:
"Hey, I am a drug user... test me". If they did, we would get it very cheap,
because what's the point of testing after admission of guilt. And this is
what parents and educators should make the young people understood. The drug
testing is not meant to vindicate the innocent, but to catch those who
knowingly break the law. I would love to hear it from parents "It's O.K. my
son/daughter, let them test you and let them test us too. If you are
innocent as we are, you have nothing to fear." What if your child tried it
the first time, or gave in to peer pressure, and was caught? Oh, well,
that's too bad. Just like you shoplift and get caught the first time. It is
the parents' responsibility in the first place to teach their children not
to try and not to do illegal things. If words don't do it, let them see the
consequences.

Haven't we read enough reports about Hawaii being a drug heaven among the
young? But where did you read about preventive actions? The ads and the
promotional material of Coalition for Drug Free Kauai Hawaii tell you not to
use drugs, the schools have drug education and they talk about the
consequences too, still the results are very slim, if any. But I don't see
their efforts encouraging anyone to report drug dealers, drug transactions
or drug users to the police. Where are the posters, the banners, the ads
encouraging the reporting. Not in the schools, or anywhere on Kaua'i. The
Neighborhood Watch program encourages us to report even suspicious events.
Why can't we encourage children to report a crime?

We have so many different organizations in Hawaii and on Kauai that help the
needy, and give money year after year to make the communities on our
islands, including rehabilitation of abusers, but none of them have
advertised or came out with a campaign or even an idea tied to an action
plan on how to prevent this self-induced plague. Most of our political
candidates did not even address the problem.

You call it unconstitutional? I think that putting the financial burden of
correcting the problems that drug abuse brought to this country on the
taxpayers is much more unconstitutional. Earmark ALL moneys seized and
confiscated during drug raids to preventing drug abuse.

I wholeheartedly support Governor Lingle's intention to do something to
prevent this epidemic. And we should help the process not impede it. And how
can we do it? At home and in school. First, by setting a good example,
second by teaching our children their responsibilities before we teach them
their rights. Their responsibilities to their family, their community and to
the nation.

Janos Samu

Kalaheo