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| Drug meeting was a good first step toward addressing lingering problem Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 11:00 AM PDT Last week a group of concerned parents met at Half Moon Bay High School to confront what they believe is an increasing drug problem at Coastside schools. They invited school officials and police, bringing together the pillars most responsible for keeping teenagers headed in the right direction. They were not thrilled when a Review reporter showed up to chronicle the meeting. More on that in a minute. Several concerned parents have told us in recent weeks that they believe drug use is blossoming on the coast. Their evidence is entirely anecdotal. A neighbor’s kid is in trouble. The Review’s police log is brimming with teen drug abuse. They heard from someone that students are selling drugs in the high school parking lot. While all of that may be true, they do not form a convincing argument that the problem of teenage drug abuse is increasing. In fact, experts say it just isn’t so. Local law enforcement sources say there is no evidence that the problem at the high school is any worse than at any point in the past. National statistics show a decrease in teenage drug use across many matrices. The National Institutes of Health reports that, in 2007, the last year for which data is available, 18.8 percent of the nation’s high school students admitted using marijuana in the last month. That may be unacceptable, but it’s down 44 percent from 1980 levels and down 12 percent from 2000. The same study also showed the use of cocaine, inhalants, ecstasy and alcohol are all down over the last 30 years. That is not to suggest that there isn’t a local problem that needs addressing. And that brings us back to the fear that led to a “vote” to ask a Review reporter to leave Thursday’s otherwise public meeting. Drug abuse in the family is an emotional topic. We understand that some people may not feel comfortable talking about it in public. But the way you address a problem like this is to bring it into the light, not to spread rumor in closed-door meetings. Our nation has a long history of drug abuse and an equally long history of failed attempts to curb it. The president’s own drug czar acknowledged as much earlier this month when he declared an end to the nearly four-decade “drug wars.” “We must be smarter about our nation’s drug problem,” Gil Kerlikowske told a gathering of police chiefs. “It’s time to recognize drug abuse and addiction for what it is – not just a law enforcement and criminal justice issue, but also a very complex and dynamic public health challenge, one that demands a systematic, comprehensive, and evidence-based approach if we are going to be equal to the task.” We agree. We must be unafraid to face our drug problem if we are going to be equal to the task of overcoming it. -- Clay Lambert |