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"Reality-Based" Drug Education Pushed By Pro-Drug Legalizers |
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Newspaper Ad Set To Demonstrate Community Support For Safe, Drug-Free Kids |
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"MEDICAL" MARIJUANA BENEFACTOR BUSTED FOR DRUGS
Billionaire Peter B. Lewis was arrested for possession of more than 3 ½ ounces of hashish and marijuana as he was trying to enter the Auckland airport in New Zealand, January 7, 2000.
Lewis, the chairman and chief executive officer of Progressive Corporation in Mayfield Village, Ohio is the same man who has helped bankroll successful "medical" marijuana initiatives in several states in the past two years. His money, combined with that of George Soros and John Sperling, help pay for petition signature gatherers and heavy advertising campaigns to garner voter support to have the states declare marijuana a "medicine". Polls state that children often cite the fact that marijuana is "medicine" as one reason they use it.
Although the charges facing Lewis carry a maximum sentence of 14 years in jail, he was released without recording a conviction. He was encouraged, however, to donate an undisclosed sum of money to a New Zealand drug rehabilitation program.
ATTEMPTING TO SOFTEN POLICIES
The pro-drug legalization movement is bombarding presidential candidates with messages and questions.
Citing that "It’s time that the issue of marijuana policy received some attention in the presidential campaign," the pro-drug group NORML (the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) is helping to orchestrate this campaign.
NORML has drafted some very pointed questions and is urging its members to take any and all opportunities to ask these questions of candidates. In order to make communication as easy as possible, the NORML web site provides hyperlinks to all presidential candidates. NORML is bragging about the large number of pro-drug, pro-legalization messages being sent to the presidential candidates. The call for "medical" marijuana has long been one of the leading strategies of the movement to legalize drugs.
Is this strategy working? Reports indicate that on December 13, 1999, candidate Al Gore told a WNDS-TV Forum in New Hampshire that he supports allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana for "medicine".
On February 25, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed a bill that makes GHB a Schedule I drug.
The bill, SB 1561 and HR 2130, is called the Hillary J. Farias and Samantha Reid Date Rape Drug Prohibition Act of 2000. It is named for two teenage girls who died after the colorless and odorless drug was slipped into their soft drinks in Texas and Michigan.
GHB, or gamma hydroxybutyrate, has been linked to at least 58 deaths since 1990 and more than 5,700 overdoses. Victims can be rendered unconscious within 20 seconds and frequently have no memory of what happened. The drug is difficult to trace and usually leaves the body within 24 hours.
Two local college students were arrested last year for producing GHB in their dorm rooms. Reports from local police indicate that GHB has become a growing problem in the Omaha area. It is easily carried in bottled water containers, with the bottle caps used to measure one "dose". Formulas for making GHB are easily found on the Internet.
Schedule I drugs are the drugs most-strictly regulated by the federal Controlled Substances Act. Anyone who possesses, manufactures or distributes GHB could face up to 20 years in prison.
In an article in Listen Magazine, January, 2000, National Basketball Association super star Grant Hill advises young people:
"Set goals and don’t let people bring you down. Remember, you’ll be judged by who you associate with and by how hard you work. And, hard work really pays off in the long run."
Hill has had a life-long commitment to be free of alcohol and other drugs.
SUBSTANCE USE CONTINUES TO TAKE TOLL ON COLLEGE STUDENTS
According to Campus Watch, the newsletter of Security on Campus, Inc., 151 student deaths have been reported on U.S. college campuses from January 1 through October 31, 1999. This figure is an increase compared to 119 student deaths for all of 1998.
Campus arrests for murder, rape and assault are also up again. "Administrators, students and campus police are tired of dealing with ‘The 3 V’s -- Violence, Vomit and Vandalism’," stated the newsletter. "Administrators, parents, students and campus police all need to intervene. This is the only way we will break the cycle of binge drinking, violence and death on our nation’s campuses."
Among the new cases listed in the newsletter:
*
Michael Tobin, U of Penn alumnus, was visiting the campus for a Phi Gamma Delta pig roast and was killed when he fell from a balcony or staircase in March of 1999. Police reported "large amounts" of alcohol in the house at the time.*
Kyle Hagmann, 20, died in his Calif. Lutheran dorm room in April, 1999, from an accidental overdose of alcohol in combination with GHB.*
Johnathan Meade died of an apparent overdose of alcohol and other drugs after attending a party at the apartment of Westfield State (MA) College students. Meade was not a student, but over 150 young people had been at the party.*
Johnathan Hudson and Jason McComas, from Marshall U. and Adam Buford and Nathan Shilling from W. Virginia U. were killed in an alcohol-related car crash. They made stops at several bars after watching the NCAA’s basketball finals.* A
17 year old girl was hospitalized for alcohol poisoning during a recruiting visit to Stanford U, 4/99.* A
20 year old female Georgia U. student was kidnapped and raped after frequenting downtown bars and clubs, 4/99.*
Benjamin Ward, 19, plunged 16 floors to his death at Southern Illinois U. in May, 1999. LSD use was suspected.*
Melinda Ross, a student at Emory U. died after ingesting "unknown" drugs in May, 1999.*
Corky Jensen, 26, died of a suspected drug overdose in July, 1999, at Yale. He was scheduled to receive his doctorate in June, 2000.*
Christine Lurowist, 21, Penn State University, was hospitalized in August, 1999, with a BAC of .682 after bar hopping on her 21 birthday.*
Kenneth Theisen, 19, was seriously injured after falling from his apartment balcony at Illinois U. Alcohol was suspected in the August, 1999 incident.*
Michael Wagner, Texas A & M, died the morning of his 21st birthday in August, 1999. Reports said he was drinking.*
Kris Kutske, 20, UCLA, plunged to his death from a 4th floor balcony , after drinking at a party in Sept., 1999.*
Richard Guy, 22, died of asphyxiation after using an inhalant with a plastic bag at MIT. Two girls, a senior and a recent graduate, were charged with 4 counts of possession with intent to distribute nitrous oxide, psilocybin, marijuana and amphetamines in Sept., 1999.* An alcohol-related brawl at Florida U. in Sept., 1999, resulted in the deaths of
Wesley Ormsbee, 19 and Brian Tew, 20.*
Cory Weed, a student at Washington State U., died in Sept., 1999 from an overdose of hydrocodene.*
Robert Stillman, 23, was shot in his Southern University dorm. Fellow student Derrick Claville, 19, was charged with the murder and with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver in October, 1999.* After an
unidentified freshman almost died from alcohol poisoning in October, 1999 at Millsaps College, Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity is no longer welcome on campus.* Florida U. administrators charged Pi Kappa Pi and Sigma Pi Epsilon with 3 violations stemming from a party attended by 800 people. Charges included underage drinking. A
female student was hospitalized for alcohol poisoning and GHB.*
Dustin Copeland, a 19 year old non-student died after attending a fraternity drinking party at Central Arkansas U. in Oct., 1999. Earlier in the year, students Christopher Tomasson and Karen Black, both 19, died in an alcohol-related car crash.Campus Watch, Volume V, Issue 2, Fall/Winter 1999
SUMMARY OF NEW COLLEGE CRIME REPORTING REGULATIONS
On November 1, 1999, the U.S. Dept. of Education published the final regulations implementing the 1998 amendments to The Jeanne Clery Act, the law which mandates colleges to report crime statistics. The new act provides:
Deans, coaches and other campus officials, not just police, must report annual campus crime statistics. This strengthens previous language.
Disciplinary referrals, in addition to arrests, for alcohol, other drugs, and weapons law violations must be included in annual statistics.
Reporting is expanded to add manslaughter subcategories to homicide as provided by FBI standards. Arson is also added.
Professional mental health and pastoral counselors, when functioning in that capacity, are exempt from reporting. Other officials who have limited counseling responsibilities must report.
Schools with a police or security department must keep a public crime log. Limited information can be withheld to protect victims or investigations, but only as long as needed.
Definitions of expanded geographical reporting requirements are provided, and schools can use a map to demonstrate these areas.
Schools can comply using an Internet web site, but must make paper copies available upon request.
Campus Watch, Volume V, Issue 2, Fall/Winter 1999
PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. is sponsoring the 16th annual Project Prom/Graduation this year. The purpose of this project is to prevent injuries, deaths and other problems related to the use of alcohol or other drugs by young people during this special time of the year.
The Prom and Graduation season has traditionally been a time of adolescent celebrating, sometimes to excess. PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. is urging students, parents, schools, law enforcement, media, hotel/ motels, limousine services and all others in our community to support safe, healthy and drug-free Prom/Graduation celebrations.
Once more, PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. will provide free tote bags and parents’ guides with the message, "Live To See the Sunrise," to schools and parents. Tote bags are offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
Toward that end, PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. is collecting all dates and locations of proms and graduations in the five-county Region VI area. This information will be shared with other schools, media, hotel/motels, law enforcement, parent groups and others so that heightened awareness might result in added protections for students.
Says Project Prom/Graduation Chairman Rick Lenarduzzi, "We want our youth to have fun, excitement and good memories during the Prom and Graduation seasons. Yet, parents and communities must remain consistent and strong with our drug-free position. I believe that this action will lead to our youth’s well-being and safety."
"REALITY-BASED" DRUG EDUCATION PUSHED BY PRO-DRUG LEGALIZERS
On October 29, 1999, the pro-drug, pro-legalization Lindesmith Center and the San Francisco Medical Society held a "Just Say Know: New Directions in Drug Education" conference in California.
Nearly 300 educators, health professionals, drug treatment and prevention specialists, parents and students from around the world attended the event
.The conference is another step by the drug culture to increase the pressure to replace the "no-use" messages which work with "safe-use" programs in schools throughout the world. This form of "harm reduction" complains that, since kids are going to use drugs anyway, they should be taught to use drugs "responsibly" and that they can have "healthy" relationships with drugs.
Publicly, the supporters of "safe-use," "reality-based" drug education deny that they want to legalize drugs. They say that they want to "reform" drug laws and drug education. However, the policies they propose are integral components of the world-wide drug legalization movement.
The Lindesmith Center and its west-coast director, Marsha Rosenbaum, are financed by billionaire George Soros. Soros has pumped over $30 million into the drug legalization movement in the past decade. His money helped pass several state initiatives to legalize marijuana for "medicine" and helped set up a sophisticated drug culture prominence on the Internet. His support of drug "harm reduction" and the lessening of drug law enforcement and penalties is moving many nations dangerously close to legal, increased drug use.
The "no-use" drug education policy and enforcement has widely been credited with the dramatic reductions of youth drug use from 1980-1992 in America. It helped reverse the widespread youth drug problem which had been encouraged by the lenient drug policies pushed by many of the same drug culture supporters in the 1960's and 1970's.
"Safe Drug Philosophy Is a Step Backward", Sue Rusche, S.F. Chronicle, 1999
SCHOOL DISTRICT REJECTS TOBACCO CAMPAIGN
The San Francisco Unified School District has said "no" to the tobacco industry. The district turned down an offer by Phillip Morris to fund a program to teach students about the dangers of tobacco and other drug use.
School Board President Edward Lopez told the Sacramento Bee, "This offer would create a certain amount of goodwill toward Phillip Morris, and I’m not sure we should be the ones generating goodwill for that company."
Plugged In, Jan. 2000, Vol. 5, No. 1
SURVEY FINDS TOBACCO INDUSTRY TARGETS LOCAL CHILDREN
Two local tobacco coalitions announced February 19, 2000, that their recent Operation Storefront survey found that the tobacco industry is targeting children in Douglas and Sarpy Counties through several specific practices.
In a 16-page report, the survey indicated that the recognized national marketing practices the tobacco industry uses to target children are indeed present in the Omaha metropolitan area.
The survey found that retail tobacco products are regularly displayed next to products which attract children. Cigarettes and spit tobacco are most often located near candy, toys, soda pop, snacks, etc. and not near adult products, such as laundry soaps, home repair or automotive products.
The survey also found that tobacco products are rarely placed behind the counter so that they require face-to-face transactions with clerks. Individual packs of cigarettes and spit tobacco are often placed at child’s eye level, near doors or away from clerks’ view where they are easily shoplifted. While some stores voluntarily place all tobacco products out of the easy reach of children, they are the exception. Stores in every neighborhood placed tobacco products away from clerks’ view in places where children can easily steal them.
Likewise, the report noted that tobacco products and advertising are often placed below three feet. An adult would have to stoop over to reach the tobacco
or read the advertisement. The report also noted the sheer volume and variations of tobacco marketing aimed at children in our community. It noted ads at child’s eye-level inside stores, on doors, in windows, on gas pumps, on sidewalks, on poles in parking lots and near streets.The Operation Storefront survey reported that no neighborhood is exempt from having its children bombarded with tobacco advertising and promotion. As children walk to school, ride in cars, play in their neighborhoods, as they open doors into stores, and as they shop with parents, they cannot escape the relentless pro-tobacco messages targeted directly to them throughout Douglas and Sarpy County.
"Parents and schools cannot possibly undo all of the pro-tobacco messages each child in our community is exposed to every day of every week of every month of every year of his or her childhood," states the report.
Operation Storefront was conducted by 58 teens and 32 adult sponsors from 6 area schools on October 30, 1999. 133 retail businesses were surveyed, while 30 businesses refused to allow the student teams to complete the survey in their stores.
The sponsors of Operation Storefront were the Metropolitan Omaha Tobacco Awareness Coalition and Our Healthy Community Partnership. Co-chairpersons for the effort were Bj Whitmore of PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. and Paul Carter, Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities/Omaha Public Schools. The coalitions will be meeting to formulate responses to the survey results. Input and support from the community is welcome. Call PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. at 397-3309.
NEWSPAPER AD SET TO DEMONSTRATE COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR SAFE, DRUG-FREE KIDS
In an effort to show that the norm in our community is for safe and drug-free children, PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. will sponsor a full-page ad in the Omaha World-Herald later this spring.
"Some parents might provide alcohol or other drugs to children who come to their homes, but the vast majority of our community finds that practice unacceptable," states Susie Dugan, Executive Director of PRIDE-Omaha, Inc.
The ad will feature the names of parents, teachers, students, leaders and every-day people who support the SAFE HOMES commitment not to allow children to consume alcohol or other drugs in our homes and on our property. It is hoped that this ad will help send the message that people in our community care that children stay safe and drug-free, and that adults should never facilitate drug taking through neglect, ignorance or apathy. The ad will also explain the SAFE HOMES Parent and Community Network and how parents can become involved with solving this life-and-death problem among our young people.
Please add your name to the ad! In the inside of this newsletter is a sign-up sheet. Please fill in the form, sign and return to PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. by April 15, 2000. No signature can be listed without the proper authorization. Please circulate this form among your family, friends, and other associates who want to stand up and be counted when it comes to solving the drug problem here in our community. Then watch the Omaha World-Herald for the ad late this spring. The ad is made possible through a special grant from Region VI Behavior Health System.
APRIL 4, 2001 IS NATIONAL "KICK BUTTS DAY"
April 4, 2001 is national "Kick Butts Day". Sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, "Kick Butts Day" is the largest, youth-led anti-tobacco initiative in the country.
On April 4, tens of thousands of youth and adults will unite and stand together in the fight against tobacco use by children.
To find out more information, just visit www.tobaccofreekids.org or www.kickbuttsday.org.
Other tobacco prevention web sites:
© 2000 PRIDE-Omaha, Inc. All rights reserved.