| Dear
Tony,
I
don't know how to begin to thank you and Helen for
being with us on Monday. It was a special time and
very much appreciated by the students and staff. I
have had a constant stream of people come to me in
the past few days thanking me for the meeting and
saying how impressed they were by what the two of
you had to sayÄyour obvious care and realistic attitude
to this issue.
I
think the meeting had a positive impact on us all.
We have had one student come forward asking for help
who has a heroin addiction one we were not aware of
having a problem and have been able to link into counselling.
Several students have spoken to us about people they
know who have died or have an addiction and the impact
this is having on their lives. It was a great communication
bridge-builder.
We
would love to have the two of you back to the College
to work with both our parents and our students in
different forums. Perhaps we could talk about what
you see as worthwhile programs for both groups and
also how our students can work with you in anyway.
Colleen Haynes Coordinator Student Support Bradfield
College
An
Opinion On Drug Use
Drug
abuse is something which affects us all. Not only
does the addict hurt himself but he also hurts those
around him. I am alarmed at the number of people some
as young as 12 who already have a habit. When I was
at school (about 3 years ago) the `in things' were
alcohol, cigarettes, pot and occasionally harder drugs.
It is amazing how things have changed. The `in thing'
now seems to be sticking needles in your arms. Back
when I was at school I didn't know much about heroin
nor did I know that many people who used it. When
I was 16 I got involved with someone who turned out
to be a heroin addict. I couldn't believe I hadn't
noticed. Since that encounter I have met many more
addicts from all walks of lifeÄyoung, old, marred,
well off, poor. To say heroin addicts are all from
bad families is a misconception. The truth is though
no matter who you are, heroin is a killer. It drags
you down, controls your life and changes you as a
person.
I
think the real people to blame are the dealers and
suppliers. They make all their money out of someone
else's misery. All they have to do is find one vulnerable
person and bingo! they've ruined someone's life. The
thing that gets me is the fact that they see what
they're doing as right. Have they no conscience? If
I was making money out of someone else's misery I'm
sure I would feel guilty. There are people out there
dying of overdoses and do the dealers care? No. As
long as they get their money they're happy.
I
know of one particular girl who is in Year 6. Her
mother deals and uses heroin. She has already lost
her virginity, she smokes and drinks and has decided
to leave school. What does her mum say about this?
Well, not a lot. Her mum is always off in her own
little world. This girl thinks it's normal to have
people coming and going at all hours. This girl thinks
it's normal to have 8 or 9 people all out of it in
the house. This girl thinks it's normal for mums to
be `on the nod' all the time. You see this girl knows
no other way.
I
believe (and this is only my opinion) that the drug
education received at school is inadequate. I did
drug education and it was a joke. It didn't stop anyone
I know from taking drugs. I think in order to fully
comprehend something you have to see it with your
own eyes. Maybe if they took students to see someone
on a life support machine because they OD'd they would
think twice. Maybe if they took students to a rehab
centre and they saw with their own eyes someone detoxifying,
it would shock them. And believe me, it's not a pretty
sight. Show them real people and let them see what
drugs do. Perhaps then they would sit and think `is
it worth it?'
You
might think what I'm saying is radical, but what choices
have we got left? Kids are obviously not scared of
drugs so I think if we put some fear into them and
show them the reality of drugs they would think twice.
Who knows? But how can we say it won't work unless
we try? It's obvious from the number of people who
do use drugs that nothing else is working. People
are at a loss about what to do. More and more people
are choosing to use drugs (particularly heroin). Drug
abuse is way out of control and it is only going to
get worse as time goes by. RememberÄ prevention is
definitely better than cure.
Vanessa K.
The
Ten Point Plan For Effective Drug Laws
I
have no argument with nine of the ten proposals by
the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation. However,
item 6 does, I believe, present problems.
Cannabis
can be readily grown in many parts of Australia; in
some areas, e.g. northern NSW, nearly all year round.
The crop requires, of course, some fertiliser and
water, but no expensive harvesting, storage of post-harvest
equipment (although no doubt quality could be improved
if modern management practices were utilised). It
is therefore ready-made, as is the case now, for black
market operators.
Government
attempts to control the production of primary products
have been notoriously ineffective. Even in Soviet
Russia, the archetypal control-by- government state,
they gave up trying to control small farmers very
early in the piece. In Australia, a few, very few,
broad acre crops have been successful regulated (rice,
sugar cane, poppies); any attempt to control small
crops is doomed to failure.
Imagine,
for example, that the government decided to licence
tomato growers for revenue raising purposes. There
would be an immediate increase in backyard tomato
growing!
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