Monday, December 17, 2012

Reefer Madness Redux: I-502 Makes Educators Ask Hard Questions About Policies, Anti-Drug Curriculum

Now that pot is legal in Washington state and Colorado, how will anti-drug crusaders now address the subject now that it's as legal as alcohol and tobacco? More importantly, how will those in schools discuss this "gateway drug"?

According to an article by the West Seattle Herald, the change in law is making educators examine what they're teaching to kids in terms of drug prevention. With the voter OK for legalization, it's making them realize that they may need to reexamine what they're teaching.

"Especially with the marijuana laws that passed recently, I think that one of the things we are not doing well at our school, and I think at many of our schools, is we are not really educating our kids very well," Diane Garcia, a principal at Cascade, a middle school, said.

Surprisingly, one of the school's counselors, Julian McCullough, admitted that not all students fit the stoner/underachiever stereotype and that some are better at coping that others and identifying kids who use drugs may not be easy as others want believe. While some students may have performance that plummets if they start to use marijuana, others maintain their grades.

"I’m sure that we have kids who are using regularly who come to school and get really good grades, play sports, and just do really well," McCullough said.

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