Tuesday, October 11, 2005

SSDP is the future I am continually impressed with the work and energy of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. Check out the latest from the Brown chapter's Jesse Adams -- this column in today's campus newspaper. I heard it for the first time in first grade and then again every single year from the fourth grade to the end of high school: "Drugs are bad. Drugs are addictive and destroy your life. Drugs will kill you." Considering that this message came from my kindly neighborhood police officer, the guidance counselor with the never-ending supply of Tootsie Roll Pops and eventually my high school's endearingly dim-witted football coach, I was at first inclined to believe their obviously well-intentioned warnings. But over time, just like thousands of kids who have endured the DARE program, my peers and I became jaded and cynical.[...] [...] what turned the kids I knew against DARE was the blatant inconsistency of the (mis)information it provided. [...] For most kids, I think, it seemed ridiculous to respect warnings from an organization with such a clear lack of respect for its audience's intelligence. This group is not only getting the word out, they're doing something important. What we have now is a vacuum of readily available truthful information about drugs, at least for those who don't want to conduct their own extensive research online. In the absence of education that could encourage safety, I have witnessed some truly dangerous drug-related activity: smokers wrecking their constitutions by single-handedly burning through ounces of marijuana in a matter of weeks; students snorting Adderall so that they can do their homework after an evening of using downers; even people assaulting their livers by washing down prescription painkillers with copious amounts of alcohol. Since prohibition is clearly impossible, harm reduction should be the goal. It is clear that students need an objective, trustworthy and confidential source for factual information about drugs and drug safety. Last year, the Drug Resource Center opened as a joint project between Students for Sensible Drug Policy and the Department of Health Education. Its mission is to provide unbiased and truthful information about drug use, including the dangers thereof. The DRC's volunteers are trained to direct visitors to the best sources of information so as to reduce harm. A more informed student body will be a safer one. I encourage all students to visit the DRC, regardless of their personal stance regarding drugs - knowledge is power, and power is safety. Congrats to the Brown SSDP. 6:37:45 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

Punishing the Poor Nice editorial in the Providence Journal about the HEA financial aid provision. We have many misgivings about the so-called war on drugs. But as long as it is being prosecuted, it should not hurt the drug-taking poor more than the drug-taking rich. Almost every statistic on the subject says that this is the case. One of the most sordid examples of the unequal treatment is the law that withdraws federal financial aid from students with drug convictions. Because such aid goes mainly to low-income students, the law hits them far harder than their well-to-do classmates. Aid has so far been pulled from 175,000 students, no doubt ending a college education for many people who needed it. The editorial also stuck it to the politicians who turned their backs on it. It disappoints us that Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, a member of the committee that marked up the Senate bill, did not respond to pleas (by, among others, University of Rhode Island President Robert Carothers and Brown University President Ruth Simmons) to try to kill the drug provision. Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank has proposed a stand-alone bill that would repeal the law. It has 70 House co-sponsors, but Rhode Island's James Langevin and Patrick Kennedy are not among them. (Ironically, Mr. Kennedy made news as a teenager for having received treatment for cocaine use; he was not, of course, denied a college education because of it.) Perhaps Rhode Island's Sen. Lincoln Chafee, who admitted to cocaine use while a student at Brown, would like to step forward and denounce drug penalties that single out lower-income students. Any courage out there? That's what we need to see more of -- political cost for supporting (or failing to change) stupid drug war laws. 9:39:32 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

U.S. captures terrorist Steve Tuck Well, we haven't gotten Osama yet, but the federal government has Steve Tuck in custody. What can I tell you about this terrorist? I didn't know much about him until recently (and what I do know is still a bit sketchy). Steve Tuck served in the US military, and while part of the military, his parachute failed to properly open. Miraculously, he didn't die. He did, however, have 13 back surgeries and a metal plate inserted in his lower back. The pain requires high doses of morphine, which can be reduced somewhat by the use of marijuana. But then he turned terrorist. What did he do? He helped supply medical marijuana to sick people in California! Well, federal agents were on the ball and swarmed down on him, but he was able to sneak past their net and across the border (to Canada). In Canada, Steve got involved in medical marijuana activism. This, combined with his bold move of actually smoking pot in a marijuana club in front of our Drug Czar. This apparently caused the feds to make Steve Tuck one of the most wanted, probably just behind that #2 Al Queda operative they keep catching. So they infiltrated the weak Canadian police and grabbed Steve. He now is in the United States, in custody, denied morphine and medical care. Just like a terrorist. MarijuanaNews.com is the place to follow his story. (More here.) [Thanks to Scott] 12:40:43 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []