Just say NO

For those of you who remember, in the 1980s, Nancy Reagan made the catch phrase "Just say no!" well know to the American public. This was intended to allow young people to have a way to turn down drugs. The phrase meant little to most teens and others of all ages. It became the butt of popular jokes and served to do nothing more than to allow the administration to say they were battling the War On Drugs, when in reality, Oliver North and others associated with the administration were deeply involved in importation of cocaine into the United States in order to finance their own wars in South America and elsewhere.

For too long the struggle against drug usage in the county has been nothing more than other catch phrases ("This is your brain on drugs", etc.). Some were cute and catchy, others obviously pandering and ineffective.

My own catch-phrase, if I had to start one would be "Drugs Destroy Lives". I could easily list dozens of examples. But, this is still only a catch phrase. It is time to realize we need to become more proactive in prevention of illicit drug use, treatment of drug abuse and education of the dangers of drug misuse.

This will be a difficult and long struggle. There are social changes that must take place. It will require determination and will. I can only hope that whatever administrations takes over in January, that the new leadership will be willing to take a new approach to actually solving the problems.