EDITORIAL : A BAD CALL, PETE PARTISAN SNIPING OVER WHO LOST THE DRUG WAR ISN'T SOLVING THE PROBLEM.GOV. PETE WILSON For others named Pete Wilson, see . Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American Republican politician from California. Wilson served as the thirty-sixth Governor of California (1991–1999), the culmination of more than three decades in the public arena that wasted no time Monday in pointing the finger over who's to blame for why more California teen-agers using drugs: President Clinton and the federal government. Wilson's tongue-wagging came after a new state survey found that drug use among seventh-, ninth- and 11th-graders is rebounding from an all-time low, set in the early 1990s, to the same peak levels last seen 10 years ago. Partisan politics over such an important issue is, sadly, inevitable. And of very little value. Indeed, Wilson's effort to heap criticism on the president serves to raise rather than deflect de·flect intr. & tr.v. de·flect·ed, de·flect·ing, de·flects To turn aside or cause to turn aside; bend or deviate. [Latin d questions about his own leadership on the state level. The state findings mirror a federal survey released Aug. 20 showing drug use among teens had increased 105 percent since 1992. That provides more than enough blame for everyone. Government at all levels has spent billions of dollars to educate young people and arrest and prosecute drug violators. That this nation is falling deeper into a morass of juvenile drug abuse is a national shame shared by all. As for faulting Washington, Democrats and Republicans are equally to blame. President Clinton and Congress have slashed funds for drug-treatment programs every year since 1992. Parents, teachers and religious leaders all share the blame for failing to protect, guide and teach the young. But parents, especially, must accept responsibility. A 1995 report by the respected Congressional Quarterly Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is a privately owned publishing company that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. on the teen drug problem noted that parents who were questioned seemed confused over how to deal with the growing problem. ``How do I talk to my seventh-grader about not using drugs when it was our generation that ushered in the drug revolution in the 1960s?'' one mother said. Other experts are coming to the same conclusions: that parents who experimented with drugs 20 years ago and went on to live drug-free, successful lives are finding it hard to deal with their own children. The most abused drug (after alcohol) among teens is marijuana marijuana or marihuana, drug obtained from the flowering tops, stems, and leaves of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa (see hemp) or C. indica; the latter species can withstand colder climates. , a substance that many parents believe is benign. Drug-treatment professionals, however, tell a different story. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the Congressional Quarterly study, the majority of adolescents in treatment centers are there because of their long, persistent and addictive use of marijuana. The state survey released Monday found that marijuana use among seventh-, ninth- and 11th-graders was at a record high level. But heroin, cocaine and LSD LSD or lysergic acid diethylamide (lī'sûr`jĭk, dī'ĕth`ələmĭd, dī'ĕthəlăm`ĭd), alkaloid synthesized from lysergic acid, which is found in the fungus ergot ( use also are on the increase. Without constant vigilance VIGILANCE. Proper attention in proper time. 2. The law requires a man who has a claim to enforce it in proper time, while the adverse party has it in his power to defend himself; and if by his neglect to do so, he cannot afterwards establish such claim, the , education and awareness of the pernicious pernicious /per·ni·cious/ (per-nish´us) tending toward a fatal issue. per·ni·cious adj. Tending to cause death or serious injury; deadly. nature of drugs, the problem will not go away. Anyone who thinks otherwise is in drug haze. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion