Drug Wars

News from the Front

December 2, 2009

After thinking about my grandson and his trouble with pot and MDMA (12-01-09) it occurred to me that he didn't have much of a chance to grow up. The reason I say this is because of his predisposition to drug use.

I am not being soft here. I have just learned too much about drugs and drug addicts.

In drug prevention we learned people don't mature emotionally beyond the age when they start using. This is when mental and sometimes physical maturity stops. Most of us know of people who started drinking at an early age and act immature. Simply stated, there you go. If this makes sense, then think about this: What happens when kids are put on Ritalin or other "cures" for ADHD?

I was wondering if the schools did research before they started this practice. My next question was do schools have financial resources to study such things? Probably not. So who would they turn to? Who has the money to do the research and who will gain the most? Did you say the drug companies? Hmmm. I wonder how biased their research would be? Not really, I’m just being a little sarcastic, in case you missed it.

Did you know that a bill was introduced to congress in 2007 to protect children and their parents from being coerced into administering a controlled substance in order to attend school? You may not know either that in many states a school can prevent your child from attending, if they refuse to take the medication. Many professionals believe that taking these substances will predispose a child to later drug use and abuse.

The bill was ignored by congress. I wonder how much money the drug companies spend on lobbying. I wonder if their lobbyists had any influence on the bill not being passed. They didn’t even vote on it. They just passed it off to someone else. Isn’t that interesting?

It is also interesting that if a child is animated, curious or doesn’t fit into a little box the teacher imagines the child should fit into or if the teacher just can't teach they recommend drugs.  “Drug that little dude down,” they may say.

Did you know that they drug them as young as three years old?  Can the schools require students to go on medication? Some states say the teachers have the final say.

What if Thomas Edison or Albert Einstein were in school today? “Sorry boys you don’t fit into our mold - Ritalin for you.” I’ve read the life stories of many great people and I have to wonder.

So getting back to my grandson - he has been on drugs for most of his life, starting at about the age of six, now at age of 20 he has not learned how to deal with his emotions he probably doesn’t know how he should feel. That is why he self medicates. It’s the only time he feels good.

He will continue to use until he wants to change. I suppose that is the case with most people who use drugs.

Only problem is that when he is loaded, stoned, or drunk he can’t be trusted. Last night he admitted that he stolen from us and I wouldn’t want to risk some of the other things that a drunk, loaded or stoned person could to. Whatever happened would then be on me. I have to keep reminding myself.

And here’s the bad news, him and many others like him are in and out of the criminal justice system at a high tax cost to you and me. Am I going somewhere with this?

You bet,

Until next time.