cannabisnews.com: Anti-Drug Overdose? Anti-Drug Overdose? Posted by CN Staff on May 15, 2006 at 16:54:04 PT By Marnell Jameson, Special To The Times Source: Los Angeles Times USA -- Many school prevention programs don't help, scientists say, and may even do harm.Like millions of kids across America, ninth-grader Mariana Kouloumian was taught in elementary school not to drink or use drugs — ever. To her, the message seemed clear except for one hitch: It didn't square with what she saw in the real world, or even at home. "When I told my parents what I learned in [school], that drinking was bad, they said they knew that, but that a drink once in a while was OK," Mariana says. Today, at 14, the Los Angeles girl dismisses much of what she learned in the drug-education program, saying that when she's older she plans to follow the more moderate example set by her mother and father."My parents know how much alcohol they can handle. They only drink socially — and wouldn't drink and drive." Further, she credits her parents, not school lessons, with helping her turn down tobacco, alcohol and drugs — all of which she's been offered. "I learned what I know at home," she says. To her, the anti-drug program seemed out of touch.Increasingly, many academic scholars and government researchers agree. They point to a growing body of evidence that supports Mariana's instincts. One-size-fits-all lessons do little to prepare kids for the real drug choices they're likely to face, these experts say. By condemning all drugs as bad — not distinguishing between legitimate medications and, in moderation, alcohol — such programs can confuse kids and ultimately cheapen their own messages."Oversimplification is just one reason most school-based drug-prevention programs don't work," says David Hanson, professor emeritus of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who has spent the last 30 years studying alcohol use, abuse and education. "The decisions kids face are more nuanced than most drug programs make them appear." The few programs shown to be successful are often not the ones used in schools. In a 2002 study from the North Carolina university, researchers looked at a national sampling of drug-prevention programs at public and private schools. They found that although 82% of schools used some kind of program, only 35% of public schools and 13% of private schools were using one that researchers had found effective. Some researchers even suggest that school drug-prevention programs could do harm, particularly to younger students. Not only might they give kids a message that's so simplistic it isn't true, but the programs can also encourage kids to view themselves as potential drug users. They can also portray an exaggerated view of the prevalence of drugs (thereby implying use is more accepted), and, sometimes, even offer technical information that kids could use on the street.Nonetheless, every year, U.S. schools pour millions of dollars into substance-abuse education that hasn't been shown to be effective — $750 million to $1 billion alone for DARE, or Drug Abuse Resistance Education, by far the nation's largest school-based drug-prevention program, but one that is not on federally approved lists. The 16-week curriculum brings local police officers into classrooms to give lessons and share off-the-street experiences, driving home the point that drug use is wrong. Snipped:Complete Article: http://tinyurl.com/jud62Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)Author: Marnell Jameson, Special To The TimesPublished: May 15, 2006 Copyright: 2006 Los Angeles TimesContact: letters latimes.comWebsite: http://www.latimes.com/CannabisNews DARE Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/DARE.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #16 posted by John Tyler on May 16, 2006 at 21:34:22 PT runderwo I will see if I can get it. I saw it at work. [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by E_Johnson on May 16, 2006 at 13:05:26 PT Linda I'm amazed It really scares me and tears me up inside every time I read about people going to prison in this movement.It's amazing to me that people can take this so bravely and try to make the best of it.I tremble inside at the thought of what you're all going through.You're being incredible role models for the rest of us.Thank you. [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by runruffswife on May 16, 2006 at 07:25:02 PT whig Yes Whig! Maybe that's why Jerry is there doing this work. The others need an example. Forgiveness is key. [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by Storm Crow on May 16, 2006 at 07:22:18 PT DARE in Schools I work at a school, and the kids love the DARE program! They get out of class and have no homework that night! As for the DARE message, I live in an economically depressed area and drug use is common--the kids have seen the effects of drugs in their homes and the homes of their friends. The kids already know the real facts. DARE doesn't teach them anything, except that cops lie! [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by freewillks on May 16, 2006 at 05:16:07 PT opps forgot link...lol Link to story......... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12803776/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by freewillks on May 16, 2006 at 05:12:09 PT 1 in 5 teens have tried prescription drug AP News NEW YORK - Teen smoking and drinking continued to drop, but teenage abuse of prescription drugs has become "an entrenched behavior" that many parents fail to recognize, a survey released Tuesday showed.For a third straight year, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America study showed that about 1 in 5 teens have tried prescription drug painkillers such as Vicodin or OxyContin to get high — about 4.5 million teens. It also indicated that many teens feel experimenting with prescription drugs is safer than illegal highs.Forty percent said prescription medicines were "much safer" than illegal drugs, while 31 percent said there was "nothing wrong" with using prescription drugs "once in a while." The study further found that 29 percent of teens believe prescription pain relievers are non-addictive............snipped [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by runderwo on May 16, 2006 at 00:02:28 PT: John Tyler Can you mail me a copy of that ad? I would like to scan it into the computer and use it as an example in propaganda analysis. [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by whig on May 15, 2006 at 21:19:36 PT Linda It is good to hear from you and to know that Jerry's spirit remains free. Those who jail him themselves have their own spirits locked in cages of fear and hatred, and shall never know the peace that comes from within until they seek forgiveness from Jerry and all those others like him. [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by E_Johnson on May 15, 2006 at 21:10:04 PT I sent them a nice little letter About this bit:"If a child's father happens to tend bar, they come home and ask why he's a drug dealer. Then what happens when the child sees the off-duty DARE officer having a beer at the local bowling alley?""This is such a hilariously naive comment. I had to respond. Let's see if I get published. [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Toker00 on May 15, 2006 at 20:50:07 PT Good word, Linda! Sounds like Jerry has a grip on his environment, instead of the other way around. Hopefully he won't be there long, but they won't soon forget him. Sure do miss runruff's posts. He can flood the internet when he gets his body free again. Right now, he is helping others more than they are hurting him.Peace, brother Jerry. Thanks for the good word, Linda.Wage peace on war. END CANNABIS PROHIBITION NOW! [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by ekim on May 15, 2006 at 20:50:05 PT good going runruff and the misses to hempology.org The 16-week curriculum brings local police officers into classrooms to give lessons and share off-the-street experiences, driving home the point that drug use is wrong. what do they say. do they want someone turned in.who is good and who is bad.only the people sitting as jury and directed by the presiding judge to make a judgement as to weather or not the law before you is just or not.Kapt if you read this will you post the SC desision of jury nulifaction. http://www.leap.cc/events/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by runruffswife on May 15, 2006 at 19:57:32 PT runruff - word from the Inside Hi Everyone. I just wanted to share with you some of what my dear sweet husband is up to in Federal Prison, for growing the cannabis plant. He is such a light and a blessing to that grey cement prison, they are really lucky to have him. I wanted to share with you this story, as I feel you will appreciate it. 13 years ago, before I knew Jerry, I went to the Siddha Yoga Meditation Center for the first time wanting to learn how to meditate and after the program I saw some literature on an information table about something called the Prison Project, Freedom On The Inside. I was immediately drawn to it, it jumped into my heart. I picked up the literature, took it home and read what it was about. It's about teaching inmates, through the teachings and practice of yoga philosophy how to access their true freedom, their inner connection to the Infinite. I loved this idea and thought what a great service for people who have lost or given up their physical freedom. As a yoga teacher now I learned everything I know about yoga from the Guru Gurumayi, the ashram, the Siddha Yoga Meditation Center. Gurumayi told the yogis to teach, the world needs more teachers. Well, Jerry/RunRuff and I met in my yoga class 5 1/2 years ago. He was a student. His first day in my class, in any yoga class, there he sat on the floor, front row and center with his legs outstretched leaning back on his hands, with an amused grin. I knew right then he was different, every other beginner student I've had hides in the darkest back corner of the room. Jerry really took to yoga, he came to every class and loved it and said he wanted to teach someday, and that we would be teaching together. I thought he was a little nuts for saying that, as we had just met weeks prior. So here we are in life at this point, 5 1/2 years later. Jerry is in prison. I am home. Two weeks into his sentence I signed Jerry up for the Prison Project study course, so he now receives two lessons a month on the teachings and philosophy of yoga. His reading it has sparked interest in other inmates and they are now requesting it. The other day Jerry called me and said, "I taught my first yoga class today." He had two students. Today he called me and through tears he told me how word spread through the prison like wildfire about yoga and he's been approached and asked to teach a regular class. The staff and inmates all are asking him to teach. He said he would do it and is now assigned to teaching 3 classes a week. He said,"Linda, everything I learned about yoga I learned through you." And I told him "everything I learned about yoga I learned through Gurumayi and the Center." This is a real cosmic moment for me to see the reality of the Prison Project unfolding somehow through me and through Jerry, 13 years after I first learned about it. It's amazing to see one's intention manifest. Intention is so powerful. So there is my husband in a Federal Prison in Massachusettes spreading the light of Truth and teaching others how to be Free on the Inside. I am so proud of RunRuff. He is a blessing to this world. Love Love Love, RunRuff's wife, Linda P.S. If you would like to communicate with me please email me at blossomasana yahoo.com [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by freewillks on May 15, 2006 at 19:30:21 PT 13% of private schools. 13% becouse most private schools do not force meaningless propaganda on the students or parents. [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by mayan on May 15, 2006 at 18:23:00 PT DARE TO FAIL They found that although 82% of schools used some kind of program, only 35% of public schools and 13% of private schools were using one that researchers had found effective.Those are very weak numbers. Folks in other lines of work would be terminated if they had the same rate of success! The prohibitionists are proven failures. They are desperate to keep their drug war gravy train from derailing. Their ads are too little,too late and I want my money back!THE WAY OUT...Truthmove - 9/11 Truth: http://www.truthmove.org/insight/911.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by FoM on May 15, 2006 at 17:56:19 PT John Tyler I read in my e-mail that they are doing the ads. I don't get any newspapers so I didn't see one. I assume a news article will be written about it. It's all so crazy to me anymore. Spin it this way and if that doesn't work try this. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by John Tyler on May 15, 2006 at 17:36:37 PT in the paper A while back when there were several “scientific studies” that, surprise, found that using cannabis could make you crazy and that cannabis today is much “stronger” than the cannabis of yesteryear. Of course, this is all “junk science” done by researchers who should know better. I thought these “studies” were publicized in order to be used as references for other prohibitionist screeds. Then today, I saw in the Washington Post a half page anti cannabis ad (that must have cost a bundle) citing these same studies as confirmation of their point of view. How convenient, if you don’t have any sources that agree with your erroneous point of view, pay someone to make up some sources for you. [ Post Comment ] Post Comment