Calif. Drug Reformer Promotes 'Safety First' October 13, 2004
News Summary
Marsha Rosenbaum, a California drug policy reformer, said the pressures on children to try drugs require parents to give more than a "Just Say No" response, the Salt Lake Tribune reported Oct. 8.Rosenbaum made her comments during a training session by the Harm Reduction Project in Utah. Based in San Francisco, Calif., the "Safety First" project is aimed at preventing harm when people choose to take part in risky behaviors, such as drug use and prostitution.
"This is for parents that have tried abstinence," Rosenbaum said. "Parents just want a fallback strategy, a Plan B, just in case their children don't listen."
According to Rosenbaum, 54 percent of U.S. teenagers will experiment with drugs. She likened the "Safety First" strategy to the "safe sex" philosophy, in which children are given information about condoms and family planning. "It's like comprehensive sex education," she said. "For those kids that are not abstaining, what do you do? That's really the question."
Opponents to the approach said it could encourage more drug use or sexual activity. Law-enforcement officials support drug education programs such as DARE because they promote abstinence.
"We're big DARE supporters," said Ken Wallentine, a public affairs official for the Utah Peace Officers Association. "Our general philosophy is completely incompatible with the notion: 'We should surrender to drugs.' It's admitting we can't keep drugs out of our communities. We can. We are doing a good job."
But Luciano Colonna, director of the Harm Reduction Project, said parents want and need options. "This is a natural way to talk to your children," Colonna said. "You don't have to be involved with any harm reduction or progressive program."
The biggest challenge faced by the Harm Reduction Project is getting the "Safety First" program into public schools. Federal funding prohibits any drug-education program that promotes a message other than abstinence.
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