Video - American Drug War: The Last White Hope - review

[MrG]

AMERICAN DRUG WAR: the Last White Hope - Review
Word Count - 2,321 words
© 2007 Kent Daniel Bentkowski

Kevin Booth's new documentary, American Drug War: The Last White Hope is the BEST Drug War documentary I have ever seen! A true masterpiece!

Let me remind the reader that it says in the Declaration of Independence, and these are unalienable rights we are talking about here, that no one person or governmental body can take the following away from We The People:

"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

These words were written by founding father Thomas Jefferson, who would have been aghast at the way in which otherwise innocent Americans are being treated as a result of the longest running, and most expensive war with which this nation has ever been involved. While some people who have a vested and clear conflict of interest in these matters are willing to say that the so-called Drug War has been a success - on the street level this is simply untrue. In the thirty-five years since Richard Nixon first declared war on what he called public enemy number one; the street drugs available to anyone who wants them, are more plentiful, of a higher potency, and are less expensive than they were in 1972 - the year in which all this madness officially began.

However, the Drug War appears to be about having more control over undesirable population groups, than in stopping casual drug use. For instance, in 2000, marijuana arrests had hit record levels. Out of 4.1 million arrests, 88% of them were for possession - sometimes for as little as a single marijuana cigarette. Possession of marijuana accounts for just over half of all drug possession arrests. To place this in proper perspective, in 1999, there were more marijuana arrests than for ALL violent crimes combined - murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. Think about it; is marijuana a greater danger to society than murder? The Drug War propagandists would have you believe so, although this is a ridiculous assertion.

Whose business is it if my pursuit of happiness involves smoking marijuana instead of drinking alcohol or sucking nicotine into my lungs? Well, as Kevin Booth discovered and reveals in his exquisite documentary American Drug War: The Last White Hope, the corporations behind the propaganda unit Partnership For A Drug Free America, are these very same alcohol and tobacco companies. These multi-billion dollar globalist companies do not want to risk losing even the smallest portion of their profits when former users of their products switch to smoking marijuana, instead of pulling another can of beer from the six-pack they picked up after a hard days' work, or another cancer-stick from its' colorful foil packaging. This is but one aspect of the American Drug War, in which we see corporate profits ruling above all else.

Both alcohol and nicotine carry very specific health risks, such as Cirrhosis of the Liver, and Cancer. Both of these substances combined kill hundreds of thousands of people each year, while marijuana has not been the cause of a single reportable death. In addition, the Drug War completely ignores the dangers of prescription drug abuse, which I saw within my own family. During my teen years, my own father had an addiction to the prescription drug Halcion. This was a horrible time for my family, as we never knew how he was going to behave from one moment to the next. In fact, this was among the worst addictions I had ever witnessed anyone go through, and it was all perfectly legal!

The vast majority of the people in the United States Congress and Senate have sold their souls to the lobbyists and corporate interests who roam the halls of Washington, DC like the energy vampires that they are. These multi-billion dollar companies whose names we all know - always seem to get what they want, always at the expense of the American people, whose interests Congress is supposed to be serving. As Kevin Booth further points out, 80% of Americans simply do not agree with the idea that marijuana is a dangerous drug - and 75% support the idea of marijuana as a compassionate medicine.

There actually is a synthetic pharmaceutical marijuana product, which goes by the name Marinol. This capsule contains a synthetic version of the active ingredient in marijuana - THC - suspended in Sesame Seed oil. Each capsule is roughly equivalent to one marijuana cigarette, which can cost as little as two dollars when purchased in larger quantities. However, Marinol started out costing seven dollars a capsule. That was only until the scam known as Medicare Part D came into being on January 1, 2006. It was supposed to be a subsidy program to help people pay for their unaffordable prescription drugs, but it turned out to be a financial free-for-all for the pharmaceutical industry. Once January 1, 2006 came around and Medicare Part D went into effect, the price of Marinol jumped from seven dollars to twenty dollars per capsule, nearly triple the price at which it had been originally sold before Medicare Part D went into effect!

Now costing fifty-billion dollars per year, the Drug War has been an abysmal failure, no matter what Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio claims to the contrary. One would think that with all the money which has been thrown at this alleged scourge of society, that there would be some appreciable difference in the availability of drugs in our nation. But, this has not been the case. In fact, our jails and prisons are overflowing with non-violent drug offenders, most of which were arrested on simple possession charges. With mandatory minimum sentencing, these people rot behind bars for ten years or more, while violent offenders - murderers, rapists, and child molesters - see their sentences reduced due to overcrowding. I have to ask - does this make our nation any safer? No, it does not.

Arpaio is a propagandist through and through. At one point during his interview, Kevin mentions Amsterdam, a city that has greatly decriminalized marijuana. Arpaio claims on camera that the city is a mess, with drugged-out people laying in the streets. To his credit, Kevin takes a flight over to Amsterdam, and provides a split screen comparison between the inner city of Los Angeles and Amsterdam. One city is clean, and the people walking the streets are orderly, posing no threat or concern to the population as a whole. The other city is a complete shambles, the streets littered with used drug paraphernalia, which itself causes yet another health risk to the general population, through the risk of infection of HIV through these dirty needles, syringes, and empty Heroin balloons. Of course, the city that lies in a shambles is the inner city of Los Angeles. But, Sheriff Joe does not want anyone to know this.

The two things that ran through my mind as I viewed Kevin Booth's four years in the making documentary on the American Drug War were; how did he get the access to the people that appeared throughout, and what are some of these pro-Drug War government kooks going to think once they see the finished product? Here, I am talking about people like General Barry McCaffery, former Drug Czar; and the aforementioned Sheriff Joe Arpaio, former Director of the DEA, and who now runs a tent city in Maricopa County, Arizona. Arpaio's treatment of prisoners can be called nothing but inhumane. He feeds his prisoners green baloney, and makes them wear pink garments. His guard dogs rest in air-conditioned quarters, while non-violent drug offenders bake in the 130 degree temperatures for which the state of Arizona is so well known.

The viewer is shown an insiders-only meeting of the Bloods street gang, and Kevin was able to interview and film Tommy Chong while he was incarcerated for selling glass over the Internet. While Tommy spent nine months behind bars, the publicity actually helped his career, along with his credibility as a life-long advocate of marijuana and individual's rights. Kevin was also able to speak with Freeway Ricky Ross via prison telephone, and in doing so, reveals that the Wal-Mart of Crack Cocaine was really supplied by the CIA. Ricky Ross made between $2-3 million dollars per week in Cocaine and Crack sales, and he mentioned that sometimes he would make that much in a single day!

This was likewise confirmed by former DEA agent Cele Castillo, who in doing his job, uncovered the connection between high-level international drug kingpins and the CIA. However, no one would listen to him, and when he pursued this further, he began to be reprimanded and harassed by his own superiors, who clearly didn't want this connection revealed. It also must be said that because of the timing of all of this, the most likely governmental coordinator of the drug sales to the inner cities of America appears to have been none other than George Bush Sr. The Iran-Contra affair was run out of the White House, and with Bush being a former CIA Director, he was the most likely candidate for this heinous task.

Kevin also talks about the Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter Gary Webb, who published the multi-part investigative series Dark Alliance in the San Jose Mercury News during August 18-20, 1996. Pointing out the connection between drug dealing, the Contras, and the American CIA, Webb had clearly ventured into dangerous waters. Later in April 1998, Seven Stories Press published Dark Alliance from Webb's expanded manuscript. Reading like some adventure thriller, it told the woeful tale of the takeover of the inner city of Los Angeles by drug dealers, crack houses, and street gangs, who saw drugs as the only way out of a hopeless situation. Weighing in at 548 pages, Dark Alliance featured Webb's masterful reportage; as well as his attention to detail, facts, people, and places - all of which were making those governmental officials involved truly nervous.

Although the paper first stood behind Webb and his reporting, they later backed away, bowing to pressure from both the government and rival newspapers. David Corn, of The Nation, even tried to claim that Webb failed to provide adequate proof to back up his assertions. However, the book version of Dark Alliance included 462 footnotes, which is more than an adequate amount of research proof for a book of 548 pages. The controversy resulted in Webb being fired from his paper, and up until the end of his life, he could find no other work in his field. This led to a depression, with his career in ruins. Ironically, if this had happened today, Webb would have simple started his own investigative reporting website or blog, and would have continued onwards with nary a delay.

Without a doubt, the saddest part of Webb's story occurred on December 10, 2004. He was found dead with two gunshot wounds, which was later declared a suicide. Has the reader ever heard of a suicide that saw the victim surviving the first gunshot, and later shooting themselves a second time, this time fatally? Webb had reported all sorts of surveillance outside his home, with what he thought were CIA operatives lurking about, peering in windows, and as a result he felt he was in danger. It is more likely that Gary Webb was suicided, as opposed to having committed suicide. This too is part and parcel of the modus operandi of the CIA, that they simply take out those whom are seen as an immediate threat to their ongoing operations, and with the Drug War, there is simply too much money to be had.

Over the years, I have seen several excellent documentaries on the Drug War, including Ron Mann's 1999 film entitled Grass. However, what Kevin Booth has done has taken the viewer far beyond the front lines and into the minds and thought-process of the rabid Drug Warriors, who actually either believe the nonsense that comes from their mouths, or are such good propagandists, they could sell their message to the American people at large. American Drug War: The Last White Hope is by far the best, most complete look at the costliest failed action ever carried out by the American government. These are our tax dollars at work, folks.

When all is said and done, the most sobering comment from the entire documentary comes courtesy of Pam Sakuda, a terminal lung cancer patient, who sought out compassionate medical treatment in an attempt to extend her own life:

"The people who are waging the war on drugs have every interest in continuing to do so. Especially medicines like hallucinogens. And I think we all agree that what they do is they allow you to change your perspective. And to think outside of the box that you're closed into. And that is the last thing that this power structure wants is for you to think outside of the box. In fact, they would rather make your box smaller."

--- Pam Sakuda;
Terminal Lung Cancer Diagnosis Study Participant;
UCLA Medical Center

In the end, this is exactly what the Drug War is all about - limiting our potential as individuals and controlling a large sector of society through arrest and incarceration. This point comes across loud and clear throughout this documentary. Kevin Booth has created a true masterpiece here, and if the reader of these words is so inclined, I would highly recommend that they run - don't walk - to the website of Sacred Cow Productions and pick up a copy of what is sure to go down as the premier documentary numerating the failings of the American Drug War.

Perhaps with enough people educated in this matter, We The People might be able to work toward repealing the most heinous prohibition that this nation has ever seen. Tens of millions of people who have AIDS, Cancer, and a number of other serious ailments and diseases would immediately benefit and receive relief, not to mention the burden on our taxes and justice system, which is overflowing with people who have done nothing more than seek the wrong from of happiness - an unalienable right we are supposed to be guaranteed from our own Declaration of Independence.

Kentroversy Rating: ***** (out of five)


Kent Daniel Bentkowski
Buffalo, New York USA

September 9, 2007



© 2007 Kentroversy Papers
All rights reserved. Used with permission.


http://kentroversypapers.blogspot.com/


http://sacredcow.com

http://AmericanDrugWar.com

Reputation Comments on this post:

AWESOME DOCUMENTARY!!!

[MrG]

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/37600

Hello. Elston Gunn here. Last year I interviewed filmmaker Kevin Booth about his documentary AMERICAN DRUG WAR: THE LAST WHITE HOPE, which was hitting the festival circuit and seeking distribution. The film is an examination of the government’s war on drugs and its failings, while also providing a voice to a few of its more fervent crusaders. Since that interview, the documentary has hit DVD shelves, picked up some festival awards and found a home on cable, airing in rotation on Showtime’s channels for the next couple of years.
Booth took some time to answer more questions for AICN.

[Elston Gunn]: Congrats on the Showtime deal and the DVD. Are you happy with the way the film is out there?

[Kevin Booth]: Like anyone who makes a film I wish it had been in 4000 theaters for two months, but having Showtime broadcast it on their main channels fifty times in March definitely got it out there into the public consciousness. After reading the fine print on six different DVD distribution offers, we decided to self-distribute with a company called Passion River as a wholesale partner. It only took us about two months of selling the DVD on SacredCow.com and Amazon to surpass any of the advances we had been offered, and now instead of some company making all the profit and sending me royalty statements telling me how much money they are losing, we are at least starting to pay down some of our debt.

ADW starts back up on Sho2 and Showtime Exposure on August 4 and will rotate though the various Showtime channels for the next two years. The deal we did with Showtime allows us to simultaneously have it in theaters, and on any given week it's playing in a handful of various art cinemas around the country. ADW also premiered on Fox in Australia and will be broadcast in Poland and Lebanon with full translations. I received a goat and three chickens for the Lebanon deal with an escalation of a sack of flour based on the primetime Hezbollah ratings.

[EG]: With the exception of the personal material regarding your brother and maybe the short section on ritualistic drugs, it didn't obviously appear to me that you added a lot of new footage, but rearranged what you had. What all did you learn with this new edit?

[KB]: As you know, one of the main characters in the film is Freeway Ricky Ross who was making millions of dollars a day selling Crack that was supplied by the CIA. After AMERICAN DRUG WAR won a few small festivals, B.E.T. did a 1-hour special about Ricky Ross that covered word for word about ten minutes of my film. After shitting in my pants, I decided the only way to save face was to some how top the bastards. I was able to contact a former top CIA officer by the name of Robert Steele who had become very vocal about his hatred for Bush and Cheney, and had him fly out to the West Coast for a few days of interviews.

It's the revelations of these interviews plus an entirely different story strand and completely different edit that made the final version of the film a product that everyone seems to embrace as well as being glued to the screen until the end. On my early edit I would always see people looking at their cell phones about fifteen minutes before it ended (not a good sign when you see those little lights popping up all over the theater). I actually played a different version of the film at every single screening and festival, something I highly recommend to anyone who has trouble making permanent decisions as I do.

[EG]: What did you use to shoot and edit?

[KB]: I shot on the classic Panasonic 24-frame DVX100 always using a wireless mic along with a shotgun. I edited on FCP, mixed on Logic and Pro Tools. I also used a variety of cheap camcorders for some of the surveillance shots.

[EG]: I'm sure you're getting a wide array of responses to this. But no matter what side of the political spectrum one aligns themselves, do you find that most believe that the "drug war" as we know it is ineffective?

[KB]: Totally. I can't even remember if I have gotten one single nasty email - maybe one, but of course they used a fake name which is indicative of the mind set of these rat turds. (I use that expression out of love and respect.) No different from when I was filming - people who were against the drug war could not wait to talk, while those who believe in locking people into cages for growing a plant have no reason to show their faces. The day after it premiered on Showtime I literally got a hundred emails that almost all read the same: "I always knew the Drug War was a scam, but I'm writing to thank you for finally connecting all the dots." That and "I just got arrested for drugs can you help me?"

[EG]: "Prohibition never works as well as regulation and control," was said and repeated. Is crystal meth the modern day moonshine?

[KB]: I believe that crystal meth, PCP, under the sink inhalants, or any horrible brain damaging substance kids are using in order to get high is "Modern Day Moonshine". When prohibition ended in 1933 do you think people kept on drinking moonshine? It was expensive and caused blindness as well as tasted bad - or so I have heard. Here in Southern California you have over 400 legal medical marijuana dispensaries and I don't know anyone who does meth... you do the math. Don't believe the phony propaganda the DEA tells everyone like "marijuana dispensaries attract crime" - total 100% bullshit!! These places are like high-end Starbucks; you want to see crime, let me drive you to the liquor store. But the real reason they keep it illegal is that 85% of all illegal drug users ONLY smoke marijuana. So, if you remove marijuana from the Drug War equation, the entire scam would crumble, private prisons and all, because there would not be enough arrests to keep the 100,000+ drug warriors employed and the profitable prisons full while running protection for the billion-dollar pharmaceutical, tobacco and alcohol industries.

Put it this way - if I could plant and grow a bunch of Prozac plants in my back yard, then Prozac would magically become Schedule 1. My favorite fantasy of them all? "The gateway theory." I'll tell you a gateway to hard drugs - its called alcohol and you can buy it the grocery store, crash your car, go back and buy some more, rob a bank and buy some more.

[EG]: This is such a multi-faceted issue. It's fascinating, for example, that Gary Johnson (former Republican governor of NM) is talking legalization drugs one minute and advocating the privatization of prisons the next. It seems like no two people agreed on going about the fight the same way.

[KB]: I did that on purpose to show that no matter what side of the fence you're on, its still not a black and white issue. So, yes, Gary Johnson is a brilliant man who realizes the drug war is killing America, while at the same time he's a multi-millionaire who owns construction companies that probably build prisons. His reason was that it's cheaper for the tax payer, but like most Republican politicians, you not going to get them to agree to any type of conspiracy. It's like trying to teach a cat to swim - ain't going to happen.

[EG]: Educational programs was mentioned early in the film as a helpful tool. What kinds of educational programs are showing a positive effect in terms of drug reduction?

[KB]: In my opinion, any kind of education that tells the truth and doesn't necessarily tow the line of the government's views that are only controlled by Wall Street. Like governor Gary Johnson said, "you tell children that marijuana is just as dangerous as meth and then like most normal kids do, they try marijuana and then start to think, 'hey, if the government is lying about marijuana, they must be lying about meth.'"
So, this over-the-top "All Drugs Are Bad" sentiment these mad mother types have is really so damaging in the long run, but let them find out when their own kids are selling their bodies to supply their drug habit of a drug that was supposed to be just like marijuana. Only the truth works - period!!

[EG]: Have the presidential candidates said anything regarding the drug war to catch your attention thus far? What are you hoping for realistically?

[KB]: McCain is a total Maverick. Did I say Maverick? I meant Mummy, when it comes to any type of change. There is a really funny video of a guy from L.E.A.P. (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) asking McCain a question. He gives the most retarded "drugs are bad" speech you have ever heard. Obama is better, but disappointed me a little when he said that he didn't plan on wasting much political capital over the drug war. I understand, he needs to win first and he needs to seem tough on crime. I guess it would be every old grey-haired white man's nightmare - a black president pardoning all the drug users in jail - lets party first and then we will kill whitey. I have actually been contacted by the Democratic Party to help get Sheriff Joe out of office as well as perhaps form a smart stance for Obama regarding how to better fight drugs.
Realistically, it would be nice to at least get medical marijuana legalized in all the states and to get the federal government and DEA out of the business of abusing sick people.

[EG]: I thought Tommy Chong and his family recounting his arrest and sentence was compelling.

[KB]: It's important for people to realize that if the government can go after a millionaire movie star they can go after anyone. But what makes it so outrageous is to learn Tommy was singled out because of who he is, because of characters he has portrayed in movies. It's a slippery slope if our government can arrest someone because he played a stoner making fun of police. What's next? Who's next? Pete Townsend for Child Porn?

[EG]: Are you going to keep following this particular issue? Planning a sequel?

[KB]: Yeah, I don't know what it is, but I love the subject of drugs. Maybe I just really love drugs, but for me the party is over so the next best thing is to insure that other young men and women have the right to experiment with their own minds and bodies without being locked in a cage as long as they don't harm anyone or anything, other than their own bodies. Its called freedom... Something that our founding fathers were fond of.
Congressman Barney Frank recently introduced a bi-partisan legislation aimed at removing federal restrictions on the individual use of marijuana. In support, we are offering to send a DVD to your congressman or State Rep. at no cost if you order one at the regular price from the website.
Go to www.AmericanDrugWar.com and www.SacredCow.com.

[EG]: What are you working on next?

[KB]: Several things. We are putting out a soundtrack CD for AMERICAN DRUG WAR, that should be out before the holidays. As for future films, a documentary, a narrative and a reality show, some exciting Bill Hicks stuff on the horizon, but I'm sworn to secrecy.

As Ron Paul put it in the film, "People need to realize that through most of our history we didn't have federal laws against the use of drugs "
So, I say, why not make committing a crime be a crime, if someone is on meth robs a bank or hurts someone he belongs in jail. If he is only on meth, then perhaps he needs help. It's called logic and it could help us all out, especially knowing that this drug war has now cost us trillions of wasted tax dollars, while imprisoning millions of non-violent users.

Anyone out there interested in helping, please email Showtime requests to bring AMERICAN DRUG WAR on the main Showtime stations.

Elston Gunn

[satinhide]

Swim has seen this documentry and he was VERY impressed. How all of this ties together with US gov't makes him sick, he now will not touch cocaine or heroin as these are horrible product pushed on people by politicians through politicians that will then lock their customers up. The Drug War is the same type of Civil Rights issue as slavery and people really should speak out more for their beliefs.

Good work on promoting this awesome documentry

[Tumlock]

I come across a book that was something like that me wishes he could find the whole thing all I got was the ebook demo view..

The World Haven’t Always Been this Way

Sixty-five years ago, hardly anyone used illicit drugs. A few people used reefer. A few people were hooked on morphine. Most of them were started on it for a medical reason—to kill pain. A few people were hooked on barbiturates. Again, most had been started on it medically—to help with sleep. Only one person had tripped on LSD, Dr. Albert Hoffmann, who ingested it inadvertently in 1938 after he had synthesized it at Sandoz Laboratories in Switzerland. Hardly anyone was addicted to cocaine. In fact, an initial wave of cocaine use had already come and gone. From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, cocaine had appeared as a key ingredient in numerous "medical" tonics (including Coca-Cola from 1886 to 1903), and a small but significant percentage of people got hooked on these. The smokable forms of cocaine, known as freebase and crack, had not yet been invented. Hardly anyone had touched heroin. A small percentage of people were hooked on amphetamines, primarily because of a popular bronchial dilator known as the "Benzedrine inhaler," developed by Smith, Kline, and French and available in the 1930s and 1940s. It became known on the street as the "B-Bomb." Tranquilizers had not been developed yet, nor had PCP. If anyone got high from inhaling solvents (e.g., glue or gasoline), it was almost always a mistake, usually from working too long around these substances in an enclosed area.
Sixty-five years ago, the main drugs of choice were the legal ones—alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine. They were all used by significant percentages of people. But whatever drug people chose to use, the people doing the choosing were almost invariably adults, over the age of 18.
In the 1950s, drug use began to increase. Marijuana led the way. It started among young adults, people mainly in their twenties, often in college or just graduated from college. A key segment of this group who popularized the use of marijuana called themselves "beatniks." During the beatnik era, smoking opium and using one of its derivatives, heroin, became popular, but only on a small scale and once again only among adults.
During the 1960s, things changed dramatically. In this decade, we witnessed significant increases in the use of nearly all classes of illicit drugs. This was the era of the "hippies." It too began among young adults—people who had already graduated high school. By the late 1960s, a whole generation—nearly everyone aged 18 to 25—had tried, or were currently using, some kind of mind-altering drug. The leading edge of the baby-boom generation, these folks could be found almost everywhere, from the back streets of big cities to college campuses.
In the 1970s, the hippies' quest for peace, love, and flower power continued. Not only did more and more young adults begin using drugs, but more and more older children began using them. It was during this era that we witnessed a steady lowering of the "age of entry," and by the late 1970s drug use had become common among high schoolers.
In the 1980s, the age of entry into the drug scene dropped even further. During this decade, drug use became even more common among high schoolers but also had started a trend among middle schoolers. Today, significant percentages of middle schoolers have tried, or have begun using, at least one illicit drug.
Also, there's another key trend. From the 1970s to the present, people in all age-groups have begun using a greater variety of drugs. In terms of the numbers of people who have used one or more illicit drugs, marijuana leads the way, followed by cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants, analgesics, amphetamines and other stimulants, tranquilizers, PCP, sedatives, and heroin. Based on SAMHSA's 1996 survey on drug abuse, the following percentages of Americans have used the following drugs at some time during their lives: 34.8% (marijuana), 10.3% (cocaine), 9.7% (hallucinogens), 5.6% (inhalants), 5.5% (analgesics, i.e., painkillers), 4.7% (amphetamines or other stimulants), 3.6% (tranquilizers), 3.2% (PCP), 2.3% (sedatives), and 1.1% (heroin). This comprises the list of drugs that you'll find specifically detailed in this book. However, I've also included some information on alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and over-the-counter medications, especially concerning their role in the use of, and recovery from, drugs.
Clearly, our society has changed in many ways. During the past 50 years, an ever greater number of people have begun using an ever greater variety of drugs. This has become most obvious among people in the younger generations. Indeed, their whole world has changed. In his book Familyhood, Dr. Lee Salk reported the top seven school problems of the 1940s: talking in class, chewing gum, making noise, running in the halls, cutting into line, dress-code violations, and littering. He then compared these to the top seven school problems of the 1990s: drug abuse, alcohol abuse, pregnancy, suicide, rape, robbery, and assault. Of course, a person's involvement in the first two problems of the 1990s (drug and alcohol abuse) often leads to the other problems (pregnancy, suicide, rape, robbery, and assault). What might help in our schools? What might help in our society?