By Robert Field
The LNP editorial “Bringing heroin education into schools is next logical step toward combating epidemic” goes on to say:
The Lancaster County Anti-Heroin Task Force held its fourth community forum last Tuesday. Among the topics of discussion was educating children on the dangers of drug abuse. Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas Judge David Ashworth said he has offered to speak at every school district in the county. School District of Lancaster was the only one to accept his offer by the time of the meeting.”
Speaking as someone with a quarter century of experience on the fringes of drug policy and harm reduction education, teaching teenagers about the dangers of heroin abuse is not as simple as it may seem.
We have to be concerned about the desire of teenagers to taste of ‘forbidden fruit’ and their yet to fully develop appreciation of danger and responsibility.
We applaud LNP’s approval of drug education in the schools but emphasize that it must be conducted by experts in the field, not “just say no” crack pots, and performed with candor, and likely with the participation of addicts in recovery. And they better be prepared to answer questions about marijuana in a responsible manner or they will be laughed at.
Incidentally the widely accepted and likely best collection of peer reviewed and government studies concerning illegal drugs is at www.DrugWarFacts.org which our sister organization Common Sense for Drug Policy has published for two decades, even before becoming a web site and averages about 3000 visitors day.
