Document text
June 4, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels May 21, 2004 Marijuana is a story that's worth talking about To be sure, some are going to be upset with The Ashland Daily Tidings this morning. We expect letters. We expect school officials to complain that we are not being team players. We expect people to say a community newspaper shouldn't write such things. We expect pro-marijuana backers to say we are making a mountain out of a mole hill. But, we aren't making anything out of anything. We are simply chronicling what most every Ashlander knows to be true: Marijuana use in Ashland is high. The story does not target all Ashland High School students or Ashland residents. It does nothing to diminish the excellent work of many dedicated students, teachers and administrators in our public school system. It casts no blame. It simply tells a story, leaving readers to decide what they think of it. The truth is important, even if some feel it should remain hidden. The truth is our sole mission. It is our hope in publishing this story that community dialogue ensues. If that dialogue leads to any sort of resolution on the issue, so be it. We firmly believe that talking about things, even what happens in smoke-filled bedrooms, or on public park benches, or at after-hour parties, is of value to the community. Clearly marijuana use in Ashland is not just a high school problem. It's a community problem. We are divided. Many shrug away any thought that using marijuana is wrong, even though it's illegal. Many openly advocate for its legalization as a means to end the "problem." We disagree. Children and teenagers using mind-altering drugs of any kind, be they alcohol, marijuana, or more illicit drugs, is detrimental to their development. Parents and authority figures modeling the acceptability of this use are failing the responsibilities of adulthood. Many people in this town model and advocate liberal values. However, when the message to kids - conscious or subconscious - is that being a good liberal means getting high, then the true message of liberal values crumbles under a billow of illegal smoke. Surely conservatives use marijuana, as do their kids. Getting high is a people problem, not a political one. But it doesn't take a 10-year study to draw a correlation between Ashland's liberal values, and Ashland's rampant marijuana use among our teens and children. We are sending the wrong message. Fighting for civil liberties, protecting the environment and lobbying for social programs that assist the unfortunate among us, do not go hand in hand with illegal drug use. It's a lie that's playing out among our children, robbing them of their right to be clear-thinking, sober, young adults, who protect their health, develop their minds and strive to contribute to society. Marijuana is a problem in Ashland. It's our problem and one that deserves serious, and sober, consideration. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams