| Pro-Drug
Websites Pose a Danger for Students
By
Sandra S. Bennett
Last
year physicians at Boston’s Children’s Hospital used the Internet
to search for information about street drugs. They found that
the most popular sites are those that condone and promote drug
use. Gravely concerned, the physicians published an extensive
letter in the August 2001 New England Journal of Medicine about
the misleading and inaccurate information on these websites and
the failure of the sites to warn about potentially lethal consequences
associated with the use of illicit substances. The researchers
encountered one site that suggested, as a “cure” for poisoning
from psychedelic mushrooms, the use of carbon tetrachloride, a
chemical that can destroy the liver. Another alarming finding
was that 24 percent of college students use the Internet to get
information about club drugs and other illicit substances, and
27 percent of college students who use the Internet reported “that
internet use increased the likelihood that they would use drugs.”
One of the more popular pro-drug websites, DanceSafe, was given
a poor review by the researchers who lamented that sites with
“reliable information” such as federal government sites, are given
such low priority by search engines that this information is rarely
accessed by students.
To further add to this conundrum, proponents of drug use and legalization
have gained access to many high school and college campuses and
are heavily recruiting participants to help them undermine and
defy national and international drug policy and embrace harm reduction
ideology. “Harm Reduction” sounds beneficial but under this banner
the comfort and needs of drug users takes precedence over all
else, with no regard given to the immense harm that drug use inflicts
on the rest of society. Although there is not one ailment of society
that isn’t caused or worsened by the use of psychotropic substances,
hemp clubs and other pro-drug organizations are allowed to flourish
on high school and college campuses.
Students today have access to such a Pandora’s box of information
that it can be an exhausting chore to distinguish fact from fiction,
particularly when the sites of those who promote drug use are
so seductive. Unfortunately, the welfare of students is not a
priority on such websites. If it were, the sites would acknowledge
that marijuana is now a leading factor in drug-related medical
and psychiatric emergencies, that marijuana users are three times
more likely to suffer psychiatric problems than those who abstain,
and it seriously undermines the body’s immune system. Marijuana
also causes apoptosis (premature death of germ cells), a fact
that has likely contributed to the epidemic of infertility in
baby boomers who smoked pot in the 60’s and 70’s. For students,
the fact that marijuana absolutely impacts short-term memory should
be of primary concern. Students who come to school stoned are
unlikely to retain what is being taught and often see their grades
drop dramatically. In this highly competitive world, being stoned
or doped is a self-inflicted handicap that can do nothing but
cause harm and endanger one’s future.
Some
excellent websites are: www.drugwatch.org, www.cesar.umd.edu,
www.nationalfamilies.org/publications, www.dfaf.org, www.eurad.net,
www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov.#
Sandra S. Bennett is Director of the Northwest Center for Health
and Safety in Portland, Oregon.
Education
Update, Inc., P.O. Box 20005, New York, NY 10001.
Tel: (212) 481-5519. Fax: (212) 481-3919.Email: ednews1@aol.com.
All material is copyrighted and may not be printed without express
consent of the publisher. © 2002.
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