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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 2, 1997)
▼ EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Steven Asbury MANAGING EDITOR: Thom Schoenbom NIGHT EDITOR: Jennifer Schmitt EDITORIAL EDITORS: Ashley Bach & Brian Diamond editorials, letters, commentary and perspective ■1 NEWSROOM: S (541)346-5511 5 DISPLAY ADVERTISING: 5 (541) 346-3712 •= BUSINESS OFFICE: ■j (541)346-5512 * CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING: U (541)346-4343 ssswmsmbs The Ins and Outs of Drugs SPECIAL REPORT f | ' | IRACJCIS BACK! ■ OUR OPINION: Reports that drug abuse is increasing among college students fail to show the overall trends in drug use for young people (Ccs/asyj'sin.) It doesn’t take much to get people worried about teenage drug use. A new survey re porting drug arrests on col lege campuses are on the rise has people once again fearful that to day’s scholars will be tomorrow’s junkies. While the increase in ar rests doesn’t necessarily mean an increase in drug use, the news fur ther justified the idea that drug use is reaching epidemic levels among young people. It’s hard to ignore the devastat ing effects drugs can have on young people, but in many ways, the hysteria over drug use at col lege campuses has been sensation alized. Even though drugs are a problem for many young people, to see this as a new problem is to misunderstand the problem itself. Drug use at college campuses, and elsewhere for that matter, is cyclical. A drug hits the streets, be comes popular, gets abused until people see the problems it causes firsthand and then fades out of popularity. And much like fashion trends, drugs that have gone out of style often come back into popu larity once people have forgotten the dangers associated with them. For instance, marijuana rose in popularity in the ’60s only to all but disappear in the ’70s. Now, in the late '80s and ’90s, reports show marijuana use is on the rise again. Similarly, heroin, speed and ecsta sy have all returned to popularity at certain times after disappearing from the public spotlight. The problem isn’t that drug use is increasing over time. In fact, most numbers confirm that drug use among the youth has remained fairly constant over the years. When statistics show heroin use is increasing among a certain sector of the population, they usually fail to mention that before heroin use was on the rise, it had declined for CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald a number of years. The real problem with drugs in our culture is not increasing abuse — it’s forgetfulness. The lessons learned from abusing a drug are too quickly forgotten as a new gen eration of users must relearn the painful lessons their elders already discovered. The media also often forget that drug abuse among the young is nothing new. By only focusing on when use of a particular drug in creases and failing to mention that overall drug use hasn’t increased significantly over the years, a false picture of the drug problem is painted. Instead of focusing on what’s go ing on with drug use now, we should look at what has happened with drug use throughout the past. By looking at the big picture, maybe we can finally learn from our mistakes and move on to a more sober future. This editorial represents the opin ion of the Emerald editorial board. WINNERS Duncan McDonald The dean of the jour nalism school will be promoted to Vice President of University Public Affairs and De velopment on May1. University of Arizona The Wildcats underdog men’s basketball team won the national title on Monday night. Dave Frohnmayer The University presi dent will most likely enjoy a $40,000 raise, thanks to Nike CEO Phil Knight. Portland Trailblazers The team has won 14 of its last 16 games as of Aprill tuns Cable companies The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that cable operators must air all local station broadcasts if so asked. Navajos Navajo families in Arizona face leases, reli gious permits and other restrictions if they stay on Hopi tribal land. Cross supporters A U.S. court ruled Monday that the Skinner Butte cross must be removed by June 15, possibly marking the last court decision on the subject. The Academy The motion picture academy behind the Os cars is hurting after a record-low television viewer turnout at last week’s show. Letters pslicf The Oregon Dai ly Emerald will at tempt to print all letters containing comments on top ics of interest to the University community. Letters to the editor must be typed, double spaced and in clude the author’s name, signature, and phone num ber. The identifica tion of the writer must be verified when the letter is submitted. Letters must be limited to 250 words or less. The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length, clarity, grammar or style. LETTERS Drug denial The state of arrogance complicated with ignorance and fortified with blind bias seems Mr. Joe Renaud’s [ODE, March 4) mental crutch, as well as “sixties denial.” He states that “the LSD experience can be quite pleasant and spiritually beneficial.” What a bunch of “sixties mentality” crap. Renaud may use street drugs and think he’s reaching Nirvana, but with any mind altering chemical, percep tion is drug-effected. So please call a spade a spade. Renaud also states that the police officer “offers no evidence” that there is a problem on campus. Well, guess what happens when you mix stressed out immature students with any mind altering drug? There is a problem. One only has to read the Emerald campus crime report. Three-quarters of the complaints and/or arrests are alcohol- and other drug-related. A drug-induced mind believes it has freedom of choice when it abuses any drug. Like acid over meth; alco hol over pot. Actually, that’s called denial. Anyone who uses an illegal drug is considered to be an abuser... at least. If one is under the legal drinking age, they are a drug abuser if they are drinking. Their denial dictates that the drug they are using is okay because their drug is not as bad as nicotine... or whatever. Or even how a drug is in gested (i.e. snorting is okay over in jecting). The next time Mr. Renaud decides to use LSD, may I suggest administer ing it as a suppository. Colin Campbell Counseling Services Lend a hand The National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness (NCAHH) is planning a state-wide Hunger Cleanup on April 12. The event is sponsored by OSPIRG and endorsed by president Dave Frohn mayer, several members of the city council, our local State Representa tives and many others. We are working to build a strong coalition to address the problem of hunger and homelessness. In addi tion, we encourage Emerald readers to take a few hours this month to make a difference by participating in the Hunger Cleanup. On April 12, we will go to sites such as Food and Lane County, Lane Shelter Care and Saint Vincent De Paul to do community service. You can care and share by making dona tions or offering part of your time. Donations are given to local, national and international hunger relief agen cies. Just a little contribution from you makes a great difference in someone’s life. Don’t you want to lend a hand? I’m sure you do. Therefore, come by the OSPIRG of fice in Suite 1 of the EMU or sign up at our information booths, if avail able, in Hamilton and Carson. Laynah Tan Psychology Tax fairness in Oregon I was born and raised in Oregon and have lived here all my life. I have never seen such an attack on the peo ple. Public services are getting less and less, and the tax structure is get ting more and more unbalanced. The people are paying more and corporations are paying less. We have heard lie after lie. They told us Mea sure 5 would make rent go down, or if you’re a home owner, taxes would become smaller. Has that happened? Indeed not! The truth is big business is getting all the benefits and we, as workers and ordinary citizens, are losing ground. Our schools are becoming a very big problem. We are giving our children the message that they are not valued and are not important. There are students in our school system who do not have text books because there are not enough to go around and not enough money to get more. Higher education is getting in creasingly difficult to afford because of budget cuts. Public services are starting to slow ly disappear. One child in five goes to bed hungry. Measure 47 is said to be good for Oregon. It is already start ing to show its true colors. Another big lie! Sue Bettin Eugene
