Drug Education or Educating Druggies?

It is a well-known fact that drug use has a major negative impact on our society. Statistics and simple observation has proven this over time. It destroys families, increases crime, ruins health and reduces productivity.

The Safety First program promotes itself as a common sense approach to drug education. Operating under the premise that most kids will try drugs, they try to promote using drugs and alcohol safely, if there is such a thing. This is a common theme in many harm reduction activities – they often give up on outright prevention and effective treatment and instead try and minimize the harm associated with substance abuse through other measures.

A quote from the Safety First program’s website says, “We must deal with drugs as we deal with other potentially harmful activities, like driving and sex.”

Potentially harmful? Drugs are definitely harmful to a person’s mind and body, and even in smaller amounts or when used to treat other symptoms they all still have side effects and are toxic to a degree. You cannot put driving and sex in the same category as drug use. Teaching safe driving and safe sex may prevent accidents, unwanted pregnancies, the spread of disease and even death, but teaching “safe” drug use only prolongs the outcomes and never prevents all the damage created by the substances.

The program even tries to blunt parent intervention on drug-using teens; saying not to panic if they find out their child is using alcohol or drugs, and that they probably will grow out of it. Safety First also speaks very loudly against student drug testing of any kind, even if incorporated as an addition to an effective drug prevention program.

The Safety First program is connected to other pro-drug organizations through the Drug Policy Alliance. These organizations include Dance Safe, which promotes the use of ecstasy, and the National Association for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), which advocates the legalization of marijuana.

“How can a group that presents itself as trying to help kids with drug education have such close ties to groups that promote drug use?” asks Lucas A Catton, President of the Foundation for Social Improvement, whose Drug-Free Alliance is in support of real drug prevention and drug-free rehabilitation.

“School systems and parents cannot allow this sort of blatant approval of drugs to be taught to their students and need to look closer at what the intentions are of the people providing drug education. In this case, it’s not to keep kids off drugs, but instead make them educated druggies,” Mr. Catton added.

The Drug-Free Alliance continues to gather members in support of safer and healthier communities through drug-free living. To find out more about the Drug-Free Alliance or to find workable drug education programs, log on to www.drug-freealliance.org.


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