INTERVIEW WITH MARSHA ROSENBLUM

Marsha Rosenblum is the Director of The Lindesmith Center.  She was interviewed by Michelle Ling.  The discussed a different way of viewing the drug use.   

ML: I went to a youth summit talk about the environment with Jane Goodall, Amory Lovins and Noel Brown, and the tobacco industry came up.  They talked about the ecological and health problems with the tobacco industry, and Lovins asked, "How many of you smoke?"  No one in the entire room said anything.  The kids are aged 13 - 18, I think, and they are international, and I just can't believe that none of them do.  What does that say about the generation gap in drug education?

MR:  Well, I had a similar experience, only it was with marijuana.  As part of the drug education curriculum at my son's school, there was a meeting. The first night they gave misinformation, which they called information. The second night, people broke up into smaller groups of about 15 kids and 15 adults - they split parents and kids. 

One of the adults in the group said, listen, I know you think that we don't know anything because we're old.  But we know a lot about drugs.  So then, one of the kids raises her hand and says, "Well, so how many of you have tried drugs?"  There are 15 adults in the room ranging in age from say 40 to 55, in San Francisco.  Not one hand went up. 

ML:  So what would you tell the kids in that room?

MB:  Well, cigarette smoking is illegal for them, or taboo and illicit.  In the context of that room, people don't come forward.  A public statement - that's the best way to get people to clam up.

ML: How can we change education systems so that there is more reality in drug education?

MB: A decent drug education program has to say certain things about drug use that are counter to drug war rhetoric.  There are certain statements that are absolutely considered heresy, like, you can use drugs in a controlled way.  Or that there are benefits of drug use.  Nobody talks about that. They talk about a lot of harms, but nobody talks about benefits.  It's very difficult.  It would take a school administrator with a lot of courage, and even then, it's very dangerous. You could lose your job for that.  It sounds like you're advocating drug use, but you're not.  You're simply being realistic.

ML: It seems that kids don't learn about drugs through adults, they learn about drugs from each other.  In what ways can young people educate each other in a safe, informed way?

MB:  I think that they do educate each other, and I think that's how a whole sub-culture of illegal drug users learned about drugs.  When people were first starting to use LSD, they had bad trips and had all kinds of difficulties.  Then people learned about context and they learned about dose level.  That sort of information came from the drug culture, it didn't come from school. 

But, I think that kids today don't have enough information of their own.  They teach each other a lot of stuff that's not very useful.  I think that one thing kids were taught was that it was terrible to drive on alcohol, but marijuana was fine.  Where did they come up with that one?  That's simply not true!  It affects your coordination, and it certainly affects your motor skills and reaction time. Mostly, they drive more slowly.

ML: People here have discussed separating drug use from drug addiction, and instead of making drug use a moral issue, make it a medical issue.  How can young people move toward that ideological framework?

MB: There are so many inconsistencies, and so much political maneuvering. I was talking earlier about how smart kids are, they see through that, and they're not afraid to call people on it . 

When they are educated, for example, they learn about the value of hemp and that the reason that we don't have hemp is completely political, or they learn that the way that certain drugs become illegal and certain remain legal, is completely political, and has nothing to do at all with the nature of the drug itself.  That realization and the articulation of those inconsistencies is what is going to make a change.  That's why I think there is increasing marijuana use.

ML: One of the youth delegates talked about a drinking problem she had, and the way she was able to overcome it by being surrounded by friends who cared for her.  She asked the very valid question, wondering why is it that I can get out of this, and other people I know can't.  There are so many unanswered questions for young people that aren't even brought to the table because there is too much silence. 

MB: The really sad thing about prohibition and the inability to talk openly and honestly about drugs is that it really cuts off a dialogue.  When you're just saying, "Just say no," there isn't any room for, "Well, what if I say yes?  What should I do?."  I think that that's the saddest thing of all.