Report to the People
26th January 2004
Arming Parents and Children with the Facts
It’s
not surprising that, when the issue of drugs comes up for debate, any suggestion
of softening our stance is met with anger and concern in communities like ours.
We have seen firsthand the damage which drugs do to users, their families
and society at large.
There
can, in my view, be no excuse for surrendering to the drug dealers and I have
nothing but contempt for politicians who see this as the only way forward
(some, believe it or not, actually want to hand out free heroin to anyone
who wants it).
But,
you might ask, isn’t the reclassification of cannabis from a Class B to a
Class C drug, exactly such a capitulation?
No.
What
is happening is that, following the expert advice from the statutory Advisory
Council on the Misuse of Drugs, cannabis will be reclassified. It won’t be
decriminalised or legalised. It’s
still illegal and the sentences for dealing are actually being increased from 5
years to 14 years.
While
any involvement in drugs is wrong, dangerous and should be strongly discouraged,
we need to acknowledge that, just as having a few pints on a Saturday night
isn’t the same as drinking a bottle of whisky a day, there are different
levels of drugs and drug abuse. This,
after all, is precisely why we have the classification system in the first
place.
If
you tell your kids that smoking a joint is as bad as injecting heroin, they
simply won’t take you seriously. If
your children are to protect themselves and make the right choices, you need to
arm them with the facts – a daunting prospect for those of us who were brought
up in a world where drugs were the preserve of hippies and rock bands (neither
of which were to be found in abundance in the Greenock of yesteryear).
Help,
however, is at hand in the shape of a new Scottish Executive guide. It
gives you the facts you’ll need, not just to have an open and honest
discussion about the dangers of drugs with your children, but the facts you’ll
need to dispel some of the playground myths they may retort back.
If
you can demonstrate that you’re informed, you stand a chance of getting
through to even the most stubborn teenager.
For your copy of “Drugs: what Every
Parent Should Know”, call Know The Score on 0800 587 5879.
A similar guide on alcohol abuse, “Alcohol: What Every Parent Should
Know”, has also been produced and is available from Drinkline on 0800 917
8282.
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