To address local concerns, groups are holding evening forums this month in the Ann Arbor area. However, while the programs are an admirable attempt to reach the public, they may not be enough. The real effort must fortify drug education in schools. The plan, which divides the cost between the federal government and the private sector, is the only major new anti-drug program contained in the budget proposal recently sent to Congress. Drug education programs have failed the country in the past, seemingly because of the slippery-slope scare tactics the programs implement.
Children absorb such misinformation.
When those who choose to experiment with marijuana realize it is not killing them, they may employ the faulty logic that harder drugs will not harm them either. Some people blame the rise on recent bills passed in California and Arizona, allowing marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes. Anti-drug advocates claim that advertising marijuana as therapeutic is increasing teen usage. However, agencies gathered the teen-usage statistics before the bills passed. The federal government should step up and put their money where it really counts, in drug education programs that advocate the truth about illicit drugs.