November 15, 2000
Page A4
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Opinion
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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
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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
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NOVEMBER 18, 2000
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