October 15,1987
The lance
page 5
Drug Forum Confronts Issues Discussion Was High Spirited
Ojiinion
by Dave Snyder
, The professors in the
photo look serious, but
there were lighter mo
ments during the recent
discussion about sub
stance use and abuse at
St. Andrews, such as the
time when W.D. White pos
tulated that it wasn't
long ago when one could
obtain an ounce of mari
juana for $20 and several
students' jaws dropped
and asked, "Where?I"
Jon Franz was the
only master of the scien
tific data concerning the
health effects of drug
use, having studied the
matter as a student and
as the teacher of a St.
Andrews class, "Drugs and
Behavior," though it was
apparent that many stu
dents in the group had
experiential knowledge.
White was no expert
on drug use, but he is an
expert on AIDS, so he
managed to connect the
two, claiming that drug
use increases the chances
of getting AIDS because
it lowers the inhibitions
against promiscuity.
Sponsored by Ellen
Walters of Wellness
'87/'88, the discussion
was billed as a "relaxed
debate." When there was
real argument, it was in
assessing what one con
cludes from a cost-bene-
fit analysis of the deci
sion to use particular
drugs. The benefits are
clear. Drugs are today,
and for millenia have
been, in the words of pa
nelist Dick Prust, a "so
cial lubricant." (Prust's
choice of words led the
panelists back into a
discussion of White's
comments about the spread
of AIDS and drug use.)
One student asked
whether there was some
thing inherently wrong
with society that revel
lers wanted to take drugs
in order to "lubricate" a
scene. Prust answered,
"yes, there probably is."
Drugs are both a cause
and a synptom of the un
productive or alienated
lifestyles millions of
Americans lead, a life
style in vdiich we are ex
pected to glean meaning
from a routine, mundane
job; in v^ich we define
ourselves according to
what we consume, not vrfiat
we contribute; and in
which any sense of com
munity stops at the
chain-1ink fence at the
edge of our manicured
suburban lawn. Used as an
escape from this meaning
lessness, drugs are the
"technological fix" for
this psycho-social prob
lem. For many at the bot
tom of the social scale
who just want to make
life more liveable, the
choice of drugs is easier'
than facing up to the ob
stacles unfairly placed
in their way by past and
present oppression and
racism.
But this is drug a-
buse as an escape, not
drug use as a "social lu
bricant." Reasonable drug
use, as opposed to abuse,
requires careful cost-
benefit analysis, and on
this issue there was real
argument. Everyone knows
an alcoholic and the
statistics about drunk
driving; alcohol is a
dangerous drug. Few
people know the real
medical risks behind the
uses of other drugs,
particularly marijuana,
v^ich according to most
scientists on most ac
counts, is less dangerous
to the user's health than
alcohol. Considering the
danger of alcohol, this
is not saying much about
the "health benefits" of
marijuana, I know. What
it is saying is that what
the citizens of this
country need is accurate
information on all avail
able drugs.
Yoiong people who ne
ver trusted the "Estab
lishment" anyway hear
Nancy Reagan's "Just Say
No" campaign and they
cannot understand it.
They see that commercial
with the egg frying on
the pan and they know
that it is NOT "their
brain on drugs." They
know people with 3.9 GPAs
who take an occasional
bong hit and v^ose brains
do not resemble fried
eggs. The anti-drug pro
pagandists have lost cre
dibility among precisely
those people they need to
reach and who indeed need
help.
The accurate infornv-
ation is available, in
DeTamble Library, for in-
stcince. It must be dis
seminated in accurate
forms, not in misleading
slogans like "Just Say
No." Americans need to
know that most drugs (in
cluding caffeine, alco
hol, marijuana) are very
dangerous only in excess,
vrtiich drugs are dangerous
the first time and why,
and which drugs are more
physically addictive than
others. Yet, in the case
of marijuana, I do not
expect many civic leaders
to give vocal public ad
vice on how to use mari
juana without abusing it
as long as the drug re
mains illegal. Just as
there is a current resur
gence in popular londer-
standing of the dangers
in alcohol, there can be
a greater understanding
of the dangers of mari
juana if it were legal
ized.
My hope is that the
Lance can become a forum
for greater understanding
of the dangers of drugs
in order to minimize drug
abuse at St. Andrews.
Johnakin Moderates Last Week's Drug - Forum
Blackburn. McCracken, White Were Among Panelists
Young people who never trusted the
"establishment" anyway hear Nancy
Reagans "Just Say No Campaign and
they cannot understand it."