milestogodrugeducation.com Blog

According to an article published in the Los Angeles Times on May 25, 2009, the California legislature will consider a bill in June to raise the tax charged on a pack of cigarettes from $0.87 per pack to $2.37 per pack. If history is any measure, the chance of passage is slim, since California has failed in 14 previous attempts to enact similar measures; and while 45 other states have passed tobacco tax increases in the last decade, California has not. According to the Times, the major tobacco companies consider California to be extremely important as an example for the rest of the country, and that’s probably why they poured $66 million into defeating a 2006 bid to raise the per pack tax by $2.36.

We may want to consider a different path this time, since the tax will earn the state $1.2 billion per year. As we watch teachers get laid off and programs that serve the poorest among us drastically cut or eliminated, this seems like a perfect time to look at any and all sources of income.

The most common reason cited by the anti-tax forces in opposition to the cigarette tax is that it is a regressive tax—it unfairly places a larger burden on lower income groups by taking a bigger percentage bite from them than it does from those more well to do. OK, it’s true—it is a regressive tax. But seriously, there’s more to it than that. Smokers are addicts, and they are going to keep using their drug until it becomes too painful or destructive to do so. A billboard I saw today on a bike ride through Huntington Beach said that the average pack-a-day smoker spends $1,600 each year to support their habit. I find it disingenuous to act like lower income smokers aren’t hurt more financially by each pack they buy than richer smokers are—it seems like smoking itself is regressive. My experience with addiction, both mine and other’s, is that addicts don’t quit until all the negatives of use become unbearable. Is it possible the added cost of a pack taxed at $2.37 will be the straw that breaks this camel’s back? (Ever so sorry for the lame pun).

Beyond that, is it logical to act like the regressive tax is the biggest issue here? There is absolutely no doubt that smokers have more health problems than non-smokers do. Are poorer families better able than the rich to handle the medical costs associated with smoking? Is a poor family more resilient in the face of the loss of one of its members, probably a wage earner, when they die of a smoking related illness? Probably not.

Please take a moment to contact your CA senator to express your support for the increase in tobacco taxes that comes up for consideration by the Senate Health Committee soon. It’s time we joined the ranks of Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey, which tax tobacco at the highest rates in the country, and leave the company of Mississippi, Missouri, and South Carolina, which tax at the embarrassingly low rates of a few cents per pack.

Each spring as the school year comes to an end I get many questions about where parents should send their kids to school next year. Which schools are going to be safest? Which school has the least drugs? Which school will allow my child get into a good college? Is private safer than public? Is a religious school safer than an independent school? If I pay more money will my child be safer or do the rich kids have more drugs? And what about a single sex school or a boarding school? And each year I get this statement, “I hear that (fill in the blank) school has a big drug problem.”

Here’s my answer: Every school will have some drug issues at one time or another. Most schools will not have a big drug problem on campus, but some kids will find a way to sneak drugs into a pocket, purse, backpack, or locker. Most drug rumors that we hear about are false!

I can only tell you what we have experienced. There are some schools that have more drug offenses and issues than others. The larger the school, the higher the odds that there will be a drug offense.

The more demanding schools usually have more students with goals. A goal oriented school attracts a student who is less likely to be a big partier. However, at many high achieving schools we see the “blow out party model.” The kids are so exhausted and have so many demands placed on them that they will hit the weekend and explode. And yes, we do see kids abusing study drugs at these schools, especially in demanding colleges.

A party in a gated community often has drugs and alcohol because there is a mistaken belief that police won’t bother them. The place to find the drugs is the house where the parents provide it for the kids (and yes, that includes alcohol – more to come on this subject in future Blogs.) This is why you need to know exactly where your kids are going, who they hang out with, and what kind of parental oversight is present.

A private school will have less tolerance for drugs and alcohol use because they make their own rules and if you don’t adhere to them you get expelled. A public school has to take all students and so you are stuck with who your child’s classmates. Who they choose to hang out with is as important as which school they go to. And yes, we have seen just as many drugs at single sex schools and boarding schools as any other.

If they go to a private school, they most likely have some level of drug education and/or life skills training. If they go to a tiny private religious school, they often will not have any drug education. If they go to a public school, you may think they’ll have drug education classes, but what they’ll most likely get is a single day presentation from an organization that comes in during red ribbon week. During that week they may make posters and take a pledge not to do drugs, but that isn’t a comprehensive drug ed program. Assemblies rarely discuss the different drugs; they simply refer to “drugs” in a general sense. Often I will talk to parents who tell me that their school has a great program, but when I review it and talk to the kids, they’ve had nothing like what the parent described.

So, which school is the safest to send your child to? You must know your own child. Is your child a leader or a follower? Is your child goal oriented or do they float along with what they are told just to get by? Does your child have an opinion about this subject? Does your child desire to fit in or do they have a mind of their own? Is your child living their own dream or yours? What are their strengths and weaknesses? Is your child a whole child or an academic child? A whole child develops their entire brain, not just the left side of their brain.

It all comes down to how you prepare them and how much you talk to them about life skills. Is addiction part of their genetic history? Is use a part of their current environment? What behavior are you role modeling for them? How do you prepare them for daily choices? Who is your child and what are their dreams? What is their intention?

The discussion begins in kindergarten and continues until high school. It doesn’t begin the summer before high school begins. It continues and continues and continues until college. That is how to pick the right school.

Well, we’ve lost another athlete to drug suspension. Baseball Dodger, Manny Ramirez has expressed his regret and said that it was an accident. He said that he took a medication that he didn’t realize was a banned substance, given to him by his doctor.

My question is how often do we hear that an athlete didn’t know it was a banned substance? Why does this keep happening?

In my class we begin talking in 4th and 5th grade that you are in charge of your body. You need to be aware of what is in everything before it goes in your mouth or into your body. Read every label! Ask questions!! This is the beginning of a life time of responsibility. I encourage my students to not accuse athletes until it is a fact, but the problem is that it is hard to know what is fact or myth. If it is hard for the educator, imagine how hard it is for the kids to sort out this mess.

Once upon a time a public figure condemned a private school on a national television show for not allowing the child to go to the school because of the parent’s public persona and history. Well, it didn’t take much effort for any admissions director in town to figure out that if she would bad mouth one school then any school was fair game. A few years later, the character Ari Gold from Entourage had the same problem when his son was rejected from every private school in LA. Was that life imitating art or art imitating real life? These are just two examples of Hollywood showing what really happens behind the scenes of what seems like an exclusive club and a publicist’s nightmare. Do our reputations impede our children?

Now, what has always been thought to be the private world of visiting friends on the internet has turned very public. For several years we’ve been warning people about posting pictures, commentary and personal information about themselves on the internet. Especially drug talk! Now, schools, jobs and organizations are using social networking sites as a research tool. Companies are no longer relying on resumes and applications as a way to decide if you are welcome into their organization.

For those of you who do not know; social networking sites are internet websites for discussion, learning, socializing, planning, and connecting with lost friends and family. Some allow you to post in real time and have written conversations about a specific subject matter, others are simply for posting information for the general public. What you write on a social networking site can come back to haunt you. There are several stories of people who are being refused entrance to jobs, groups, schools and colleges. Now, there is record of people actually losing their jobs for activity on sites.

While we have our personal favorite sites, we worry about how much information goes out about people’s private lives and their children. Putting out pictures of drunken escapades (adults, teens and college students) can turn out to bite them in the behind. But it is the pictures of their children, with their back packs (with names on them), school names, grades, and teacher names that gets truly dangerous. There are plenty of lurkers out there other than employers and admissions directors who are searching for empty homes of vacationing families; children to copy and post pictures of on porn websites; and not very nice people who prey on the innocent. The very real possibility of organizations waiting to deny you entrance now exists. Once you post on a website, it is there for eternity! So, just because your kid is only 7 now, you may be surprised when a college counselor sees your “drunken shots” of your vacation 10 years earlier. We now hear that scholarships are being denied as well for student or parent behavior. Think about where you will be in the future and where your children will need to be in the future.

Is this paranoia – or self protection? If you’re addicted to social networking; there is no pill to pop to stop your actions or reverse a bad posting. Just think and project what could happen because not everyone thinks like you. If you are counting on financial aid, don’t get caught with that lampshade on your head!

We lost several family members at 2 different schools this week due to car accidents. Our thoughts and sorrow go out to their family members. We are so sorry for your loss.

Today is 420 National Pot Smoking Day. Originally named for the number of chemicals thought to be in marijuana, it is actually 421.

Let’s watch our friends & kids so they don’t start a new habit or get in trouble today especially @ 4:20pm cuz the police know it too!

Yes, we finally did it! We have been very careful about commenting on what is happening in the world; keeping it within office and classroom discussions. Jonathan and Kelly will both blog on this site (hopefully) Sunday morning each week (depending on our lecture series schedule!)

As so many of you know, we make pop culture and the social world around us a big part of our lecture series in the classroom. This blog will continue that tradition, but allow us to comment on some items we never get to discuss in our class time. We look forward to chatting with you and hope you find this blog helpful.