Education is key to stopping abuse

To the editor:
Many today perceive that alcohol and tobacco are both safe forms of drugs compared to what is being used as other alternatives. Many people believe that marijuana is still the “gateway” drug that leads to other areas, even though use between alcohol and tobacco is declining. We still have to remind ourselves that both are not safe alternatives.
Why are they the most commonly used drugs today? They are the most readily available. We see both alcohol and tobacco everywhere we go — our local grocery store, convenience store and most retail stores. Most of us don’t know that more than 400,000 people die each year from tobacco-related causes. There are 75,000 alcohol-related deaths each year in the United States.
That’s why it’s important to educate today’s youth on the harmful effects that both can cause. As I said earlier, both have seen significant declines in recent years. Alcohol use by teens was up a little, but total use of alcohol has been declining and is still well below what it was in the 1980s (monitoring the future).
Tobacco has seen an even greater decline among use by teens. Why? Disapproval of using tobacco has increased and the many programs like D.A.R.E. and Just Say No have given teens the facts they need when making the decision to not use tobacco and alcohol.
That’s why it is vital that we continue to educate today’s youth of the long-term effects both can have on our bodies.
Michael Brewster, Jay County Drug Prevention Coalition[[In-content Ad]]