Trinity College School - Record Yearbook (Port Hope, Ontario Canada)

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are grabbed by the throat to keep them from swallowing the drug, and, on occasion, have been hit in the diaphram to help them cough up any- thin g in their mouth. They are then frisked, and the house is quite literally ransacked (the news term is searched) to check for any more dope. This sort of action, taken by the police, is sure to result in somewhat indignant people being taken out of the house. Yet, their seemingly violent temperment is not the result of the drug, but the result of something less than tactful treatment by the police. Due to this taint associated with grass, many people will phone the police if they suspect youths to be quietly sitting in a house, smoking marijuana and listening to records, when they would not if they knew they were drinking beer and making drunken fools of themselves. This distrust of marijuana unlike alcohol also has to do with the laws applying to the illegal use of the drug. A person under 21 caught consuming liquor draws the usual token handslap, this time in the form of a small fine. The person does not get a criminal record, he is just considered a normal, spirited adolescent and it is left at that. If this same person were caught with as little as one gram, less than one twentieth of an ounce, he can draw a heavy fine, or can be shipped to a penitentiary with theives and murderers. This youth is a criminal, and holds a record which will limit his future job opportunities, educational opportunities, and social acceptance. If the youth is apprehended in possession of more than three ounces of the drug, he is considered to be “traf- ficking,” and can draw a life sentence, and in some states in the U.S. can draw a death penalty. Is marijuana so terrible a drug that its use war- rants the sending of the user to prison, to spend time with people who don’t want to be a useful part of society ' ”’ In this case, the cure is much worse than the disease. If proper education were given about drugs, about their effects, their dangers, and their pro- per usage this aura of danger and degeneracy would not hang over the drug user’s head. Per- haps the drug problem would slowly fade away, and be accepted, the same way as alcohol, and cigarettes, and diet pills, and coffee. But as long as this education is lacking, there will be a “drug problem”, or, more accurately, the prob- lem of ' thedrug problem”. glenn sernyk

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ONE OR TWO THOUGHTS ABOUT GRASS Drugs — the modern day crutch of youth, the child of our new-found affluence, a little more sophisticated way to get high, the mark of the rebellious youth. All these views have been taken on the subject of drugs, including a few less po- lite ideas taken by members of the old guard. All these opinions, views, and ideas can be put into one set of brackets, and labelled, in large, red let- ters, the Drug Problem. To me, the whole concept of a drug problem is annoying. There arc three more commonly used drugs than marijuana and its cohorts, but these drugs are not presumed to be drugs, but more, they are considered to be a part of society ' There has never been a caffeine problem, or a Nicotine problem, or a diet pill problem. People rely on a coffee break with a cigarette to get them through the morning, an amphetemine to help them keep their appetite down, in order to give up lunch, then a good, stiff drink at night to calm their nerves. Yet these people are quite accepted, defi- nitely not part of the drug problem, in fact just normal human beings, even though they are un- der the influence of drugs all day long. Yet the person found trying to calm down at night through the use of marijuana or hashish, is, at best, a degenerate of the first order. This concept of social acceptance is started very early, though by parental concern. Many boys know that they can go to a party, and come home late in the night, thoroughly intoxicated, and receive no more than a token handslap. After all, this is part of growing up. If that same boy were to come in looking a bit stoned, he would undoubtedly be lectured, and his parents would wonder ‘Where did we go wrong? This is partial- ly understandable, however, as when these par- ents were young, drugs had quite a different pic- ture associated with them. They see pictures of junior in a back alley w ith a couple of seedy look- ing characters, pumping heroin into his arm with a dirty hypodermic needle. Or they see their son getting mixed up with the Mafia, with killers and racketeers. Neither of these pictures is comfort- ing. Yet, they should see another picture, to be at all fair in their judgement. They should see a pic- ture of junior lying drunk in a jail overnight, with thieves and prostitutes and alcoholics. They should see pictures of their boy panhandling on the street to get enough money to buy another bottle of cheap wine. Yet these pictures are seen by surprisingly few parents. It can never happen to their boy if he drinks, but it is inevitable if he uses drugs. Part of this parental concern is developed be- cause of the aura of the “pot party. The most publicized types of youth gatherings are these parties which have been raided by the police, and the people have been apprehended for the use of drugs. The people taken at these parties are usually quite indignant, and so the idea that pot ; induces violent behavior results. However, the customary procedure of “busting a party is usually not outlined. Firstly, all people involved

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THE MIND POLLUTER The world of advertising, I am sorry to say. is in the process of a full scale pollution of our beloved and only ecosystem. One is hard pressed in these troubled days and especially in North Amer- ica to avoid the subtle brainwasher, advertising. It surrounds us and is ever closing in. Our eyes are but our unwitting servants; they can only draw attention to what stands out most obviously before them. The powers of the methods of advertising know this to be a human failing and use it on us as one of their most effective weapons. 1 will give an example; A common man. you or I, is driving through the country. As he turns a corner, there is one of the most shameless agents of the enemy: the billboard. Our traveller’s eye, grown accustomed to pleasant greens and blues is instantly hyp- notized by a brilliant message in fluorescent orange lettering. EAT AT JOE’S!’ it screams. The man, aided by his trusty auto, is soon past the attacker, but the damage is done. Suddenly he thinks of food, although not previously hungry. After a mile or so of the mounting yearning, a plastic savior appears, for there stands “JOE’S EATS. Our man stops, and has a bite to eat. The battle is over. The man has lost. Let us ask ourselves though — did he ever have a chance ? I hope that I do not leave the reader the impression that the advertising methods reserve their field to nature’s domain. No! Our very homes are infiltrated with the menace! That same com- mon man I just spoke of cannot easily find leisure before his own hearth without subtle attacks on his judgement. He seeks music from his radio — a soothing female voice asks how he rates him- self as a man. and somehow connects this with what after-shave he uses. In avoiding such he snaps on his T.V. to watch his favour- ite sports show — w ith a clash of cymbals, a chorus line of scanti- ly clad women beckon him to join some car rebellion. Our weary crusader then turns to a news magazine — only to be confronted with a buxom nude modeling a man ' s shirt. Is there no escape?! He may but turn to the old stand by, a good book, solitaire, or ponder on the thought, “What are they really selling?” We, all of us, are broken and defeated. The enemy has taken our transportation routes, and our communication lines. This