Two Perceptions of Anti-Drug Rally Featuring Bush and Gates

I attended the anti-drug rally in Santa Ana and came away with two reactions. The first was a feeling of anger--anger because rally organizers sent the hundreds of schoolchildren in attendance a double message.

Preceding all the “Just Say No” speeches was a kind of festival of sex and violence: a karate expert showed kids that smashing boards--and perhaps people--is great fun; an impersonator suggested that killing drug dealers would abolish the drug problem; the Rams cheerleaders promoted the sort of shallow sexuality that isn’t too different from the drugs we rightly fear.

But I also left the rally feeling great sadness. Although alcohol is our nation’s No. 1 drug of choice, no one in the entire program--from the karate expert to President Bush himself--told the kids that alcohol may hold for them precisely the same sort of pain we associate with harder drugs. Nor did anyone go beyond platitudes. Telling our children to “Just Say No” is not the place to begin a substance abuse program. Drug addiction begins in the home. Addiction is a family problem, and all members of the family play some role in the addiction process.

I hope that the Committee for a Drug Free Orange County will consider deploying some of the vast amounts of money it spends on the Just Say No campaign in the pursuit of real drug education--educating people to recognize addiction, and promoting a plan for recovery. But an effective drug education program ought to be based firmly on experience. The committee would do well to bring on board people who understand addition and recovery.

Here’s hoping we’ll see a new campaign--one that recognizes drug and alcohol addiction as a family disease, one that moves beyond the comfortable simplicities of Just Say No. Let’s put the emphasis on recognizing addiction--in all its manifestations--and promoting recovery.

ELLIE SHOBE

Newport Beach