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strong reason for keeping illegal drugs illegal, as is his comparison of statistics on alcohol being the primary cause of spouse and child abuse versus other drugs. As for the need for more treatment, this is being addressed in a bill now before Congress, S-304 titled “Drug Abuse Education, Prevention, and Treatment Act of 2001.” Those working in drug treatment and prevention point out that prevention, treatment and legal barriers to use all depend on each other for effectiveness.
Drugs are illegal because they are dangerous, and ages 12 to 20 are the most vulnerable for drug use to begin. Grassroots parent drug prevention organizations that were credited with being influential in helping to cut youth’s illegal drug use by half from its peak of the late 1970’s have been and remain strongly opposed to legalization of drugs whatever the name used. They know that legalization will increase use among youth as well as adults.
For information on prevention and opposition to drug legalization, check out the web site of National Families in Action, www.emory.edu/NFIA. And for college campus crime prevention information along with closely associated campus illegal drug use and binge drinking prevention, see Security on Campus’s web site www.campusafety. org or call 1-888-251-7959. Those organizations offer information on how citizens, parents in particular, can become involved in prevention. Drug abuse prevention is everybody’s business!
Nancy Yowell Starr
Erie, Pa.
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