News Release 2001-12
October 25, 2001
On October 23, 2001, the following article was published in a special edition of The Islands' Weekly dedicated toward looking at the issues of use and abuse of drugs and alcohol in San Juan County.
KEEPING OUR CHILDREN SAFE FROM ALCOHOL AND DRUG ABUSE
By
Randall K. Gaylord, San Juan County Prosecuting Attorney
My son loves to play football. Being on the junior varsity squad, his coach recently reminded him that he was "just a turned ankle away from the fire." As a prosecutor and father, I said if I were the coach I would say you are "just one drinking party away from the fire."
Using drugs and alcohol has consequences. For some it’s the loss of a place on the varsity team. For others it’s the loss of innocence. For a few it means death. Each year we have serious injuries and deaths due to the use and abuse of alcohol and drugs.
But, I don’t expect I’m going to save any lives if I write about the dark side of alcohol and drug use. I don’t expect people are going to discontinue using drugs and alcohol because they might get arrested, fined, lose their driving privilege, lose their job, get pregnant or be expelled from school or a sports squad or, even die. I find it hard to understand that some people don’t know that abuse of alcohol and drugs can lead to these major, and sometimes fatal, consequences.
The more difficult side of alcohol and drug abuse is the social acceptance for "recreational" use of drugs and early use of alcohol. At one time last year, all of the juveniles on Orcas Island that were on probation tested positive for continued use of drugs or alcohol, even after they were ordered by the court to stop. The effect of alcohol and drugs on your health, your life and your future can be permanent. There is no such thing as safe, "recreational" drug use.
A second difficulty is the tolerance for drug and underage alcohol use in our community. One of the reasons for this is that we adults reflect back at our own youthful experimentation -- and many of us survived that just fine. When I was a teenager, the drinking age was 18 and people began experimenting with alcohol at 16. But drinking at an early age didn’t seem to make anyone better because of it. Lawmakers agreed, and now the drinking age is 21.
All adults in our community should join the effort against alcohol and drug abuse. Children watch all of us, and the most casual gestures, or comments, about alcohol and drug use takes on great importance. By setting good examples, we increase the chance that the youth in our community will make good decisions about alcohol and other drugs.
Parents have a special responsibility. At our house, we have been talking about drug and alcohol abuse since our children entered elementary school. We practice how to say "no." And, we are firm that there will be immediate and important consequences if they don’t honor our expectations.
Keeping the youth of our community free from alcohol and drug use is not going to occur simply by luck or the work of your local prosecutor. It takes love, caring and effort by all.