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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2000)
November 15, 2000 Page A4 <27tje '¡¡lortkmb (lOhseruer j . i j r t ia ni> Opinion i Articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views of Iportlanb (0b«cruer School Counselor Tackles Marijuana Abuse Bv J ohn D uff As a public high school teacher I am faced w ith the enorm ous task o f w orking to prevent my teenage stu d ents from becom ing addicted to d ru g s, sta rtin g w ith tobacco, alc o h o l, and m arijuana. T hese th ree drugs are often r e f e r r e d to as th e “ g a te w a y d ru g s” b ecau se these are the first d ru g s th a t you n g peo p le use. T hey alm o st alw ays precede the use o f h e ro in , crack cocaine or “p e e d o g s” - c rack cocaine and m arijuana sm oked to g e th e r- club d ru g s like c ry sta l m eth, ecstasy, and LSD , and the date-rape drugs R oh y pnol and GHB W hen young people begin to e x p e rim e n t w ith drugs they u su ally b eg in w ith tobacco first, a l Jdortlatib (Ob se m e r USPS 959-680 Established 1 9 7 0 STAFF E d it o r P C in h ie f Charles H. Washington I T o R Larry J. Jackson, Sr. M u s in e s s anager Gary .Ann Taylor A sst . P ublisher Michael Leighton C E opy d it o r Joy Ramos C r e a t iv e D ir e c t o r Robert Parker 4 7 4 7 NE M artin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. Portland, OR 9 7 2 1 1 503 -2 88 -0 0 33 Fax 5 0 3 -2 8 8 -0 0 1 5 e-mail news@portlandobserver.com st4Bcription@porttandobBerver.com ads@portlandobserver.com rO S TM A S T E R : Send address changes to Portland Observer PO Box 3137 Portland, OR 97208 Periodical Postage paid in Portland, OR Subscriptions are $60.00 per year D E A D L IN E S FOR ALL SUBMITTED MATERIALS: ARTICLES: Monday by 5 p . m . ADS: Friday by noon H ie Portland I Ibserver welcomes freelance submissions M anuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and w ill be returned ifaccompaniedbyaselfaddressedenvelope A ll created design display ads becom e the sole property o f the new spaper and cannot be used in other publ icafrons o r personal usage w ithout the w ritten consent o f the general m anager, unless the client has purchased the com position o f such ad O 1 9 9 6 T H E P O R T L A N D O B SERVER ALL R IG H T S RESERVED. R E P R O D U C T IO N IN W H O L E O R IN P A R T W I T H O U T P E R M IS S IO N IS P R O H IB IT E D . The Portland O b s e rv e r-O re g o n ’ s O ldest M u lticu ltu ral P u b lic a tio n -is a m em ber o f the N ational New spaper A ssociation-Founded in 18 8 5 .and rh e N ational Advertising Represen tativ e A m a lg a m a te d P ublishers. Inc. N ew York, N Y , and T h e W est Coast Black Publishers Association* Serving Portland and Vancouver t w ith reddening o f the face and w atering o f eyes. So I tell m ay s tu d e n ts th a t th e lo n g - te r m health risked to sm oking m a ri ju a n a m ay w ell be as great as those found w ith tobacco sm o k ing. For the person th at sm okes both tobacco and marijuana it could be doubly dangerous. It is important to point out that marijuana intoxicates. It alters one’s consciousness. It af fects the ability o f the student to con centrate, recall and record what he or she is studying. M arijuana tem p o rarily a lte rs the p erceptions and the p e rso n a lity o f the user, m aking c la ss room learning m uch m ore d iffi cult. I tell my students that o f all the drugs teenagers use, it is m arijuana that poses the g re a t est d an g er by d istra c tin g them from th e ir prim ary in life as teen agers. T hat jo b is to find them selves and th e ir d ire c tio n in life. T hey need to prep are them selves for fu rther ed u catio n , c a reers, and overall success in life. T hese are the sou rces o f true life long pleasu re. As a com m unity, we m ust fo cus on p revention. T his p o p ular b e lie f am ongst stu d en ts that to bacco is m ore dangerous them m ariju an a tells me we are doing a m uch b e tte r jo b in the education and p rev en tio n o f tobacco use than w e are m arijuana. John D uff is a public high school health teacher, co-author o f The Truth About Drugs, the Body Mind and You. Letters to the editor: Live Together in Peace B W hy? W hen a student sm okes m arijuana, he or she becom es in to x icated , som ething that does not happen when a student sm oke or chew s tobacco. The dangers to tobacco are p ri m arily long-term health risks that include lung cancer and em phy sem a. I explain to my students th at w hile people w ho sm oke m arijuana usually sm oke less o f ten than those that sm oke to b acco , th ey sm oke m a riju a n a m uch deeper and hold the sm oke m uch longer and harder in their lungs than tobacco sm okers do. M a r iju a n a is s o m e tim e s sm oked with bongs or w ater pipes to get larger quantities o f sm oke into the lungs, w hich causes irri tatio n , coughing, hacking along , u b l is h e r E d c o h o l se c o n d , and m a riju a n a third. Som etim es this sequence w ill begin w ith alcohol or m ari ju a n a o r som etim es several o f these drugs w ill be experim ented w ith at the sam e tim e. But if your c h ild has begun to use o th e r drugs than m entioned above there is a very good chance that he or she has reached a m ore serious stage o f drug use. A stage that probably m eans drug re h a b ilita tion is needed. I have noticed that m any stu dents feel that tobacco is m ore dangerous than m arijuana. T his poses an im portant question. Is to b acco m ore d an g erous than m arijuana? F irst I should say that tobacco and m arijuana are really quite different types o f drugs. W e P o rtland Jew s are horrified at the Israeli- sparked m urder and te rro r in the M id d le East. A rie l S h a r o n ’s p ro v o c a tiv e visit to A l-A ksa w ith 1,000 troops set o f f a huge fu ro r th at has re su lted in the deaths o f over 100 P alestinians plus U .S. sailors and Jew ish Israelis. Sharon, the man w ho led the m assacres at S hatila, ch ose this m eans to bury the ill- fated peace pro cess and ch al lenge Benjam in N etanyahu for the leadership o f the rightw ing Likud Party. W e are ap p a lle d th at Ehud B arak w ould m ake a governm ent w ith this man. R ath er than e sc a la te the op p ressio n , i t ’s tim e for Israel to leave the W est B ank and G aza com pletely. A fter decades o f per secution in th e ir hom eland, the enduring P alestin ian s w ill not, and should not, give up th eir ju st fight for reco g n itio n and to co n trol th e ir destiny. We call on our fellow Jew s to condem n propaganda that g lo ri fies m urder o f hundreds by tanks and rockets, but feigns h o rro r at rocks throw n in defense. W e urge our L andsm en and w om en to re je c t the jin g o ism s o f nationalism and Z ionism from the U .S. State D epartm ent and A m erican Jew ish C om m ittee and su p p o rt the right o f Palestinians inside and outside o f Israel to be free from dom ination and the hated status o f refugee. O nly by speaking out now can we help forge an equitable solu tion that w ill enable Jew s and A rabs to live to gether in peace, as they had for centuries past. H istory has taught us that the liberation o f one oppressed group cannot be won at expense o f an other oppressed group. K r is D e M a r la , G r e g g D eM aria, M arvin Surkin and A drienne W eller. Supports Dam Removal The rumors with the people who “know” is that the Columbia/Snake salmon are returning in record numbers Wrong! A look into the past shows these claims false. In 1971 over65,000salmon were counted returning to their spawn ing grounds. Now, in this “record’’ return year, less than6,000made it back. That ’ s an almost 91 percent decrease in such a short time. Now, you tell me what records are being broken. Ihe worst part about these numbers is that the problems can be solved with partial removal offour dams, out of over 500in the Paci fic North west. It ’ s the best, cheapest, and easiest way to save this valuable part of the world we live in. Donna Shows Southeast Portland PRESENT O UR 3 rd A N N U A L T hanksgiving DINNER SATURDAY NOVEMBER 18, 2000 12-5 PM C O R N E R S T O N E C O M M U N IT Y C .O G .l.C . 2216 N .E. K IL L IN G S W O R T H S T R E E T 503-281-4587 FREE THANKSGIVING DINNER!!! FREE RIDES TO DINNER!!! PICK-UP TIMES AND LOCATIONS: N.E. MLK AND WYGANT: 3 rd AND E. BURNSIDE: 11:30 AM 11:00 AM 12:30 PM 12:00 PM 1:30 PM 1:00 PM «
