We see the advertisements on television telling young people that a mind is a terrible thing to waste. We experience our taxes increasing with the governmental call to curtail the flow of illegal drug trafficking? We rally as supporters of public school programs designed to educate and warn students of the hazards of drug use during Red Ribbon Week with the cry of "Say No To Drugs."

Mixed messages

We fear the possibility and then react with alarm at finding out that our child has smoked marijuana. Now, I am not at all minimizing this parental concern. Nor am I an advocate of any illicit drug. However, I feel an incredible burden to speak the truth and expose the hypocrisy of our cultural pharmacological mixed messages.

While we speak appropriate condemnation when the profiteers are Colombian drug lords or gangster youth in our neighborhood parks, we seem to march with our children as silent lemmings toward the cliffs of our own demise when the drugs being consumed are those lining our grocery store shelves or dispensed by those in white jackets on official prescription pads while record pharmaceutical company profits soar.

What is the difference between a good drug and a bad drug when there are ten times as many people who die from legally sanctioned drugs compared with the illegal variety? There can be a place for some medication use in crisis situations, but the "drugs are the answer to nearly everything you feel that is unpleasant and everything that ails you" message is so much more prevalent than "Say No To Drugs.," even though it isn't stated so directly.

This has become especially true today as drug companies blanket the media with billions of dollars of prescription drug ads. This is insidiously increasing the pro-drug message, as well as driving consumers to pressure doctors for the latest miracle drugs.

What's wrong?

Why the supposed need for so much pharmacological manipulation of our children's and our body chemistry? Is there truly that much wrong with us to make this much drug use necessary? Even if this were so, if we were to better understand the truly miraculous nature of our bodies and their self-healing potential, would it make this much drug use wise? Is it correcting the causes of our health problems or merely modifying our symptoms and blocking our warning messages while driving the conditions deeper within us?

The nervous system is responsible for coordinating all natural self-regulation and healing. I have been a practicing doctor of chiropractic for nearly 18 years. I have worked with thousands of people, who when the spinal cause of nervous system disturbance was located and regularly corrected, have had their sicknesses diminished or resolved, their health and vitality improved and their need for drugs of any variety eliminated or markedly diminished.

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association earlier this year stated "the use of antidepressants like Prozac and stimulants like Ritalin in 2-4 year olds in the United States more than doubled between 1991 and 1995 to at least 150,000." Is this to be accepted as necessary and normal? How far will this go?

Disturbing phenomena

I am appalled and believe that this is one of the most disturbing phenomena of our day. We are chemically manipulating the minds and bodies of our children with powerful drugs that have not been adequately evaluated for safety and efficacy in young children.

If we provide pain relievers every time our children hurt, cold remedies and antibiotics for every minor infection and behavior- or emotion- modifying drugs rather than addressing the causes of our imbalances, what kind of messages do we give as our children become teen-agers and young adults?

Is it not a slippery slope which teaches young people that anytime life disappoints them (for example, they don't make the cheerleading squad, their girlfriends break up with them, they lose the big game) that there is a way to feel better now, as with alcohol, marijuana or cocaine? Should we be surprised?

Teach your children the real meaning of "Say No To Drugs." by teaching them to trust their inborn self-healing ability. Train them to seek out and correct the causes of their disturbances of health and joy, rather than avoiding the real issues by masking them with drugs.

(Published in Fresno Bee, Saturday Oct. 21, 2000, Valley Voices, as "Red Ribbon Week means saying no to legal drugs, too")

Visit our Center!

Norton Chiropractic Wellness Center (View Map) at 5670 N. Fresno St. Ste. 102 in Fresno, Calif. Call us at (559) 490-9550 or contact us here.

About Dr. Norton

Dr. Norton unites his passion for learning, teaching, and healing with a compassion for those who are struggling with pain and illness or not performing at their peak. He brings to his work a high level of academic achievement and cutting-edge bodymind research. However, he also brings a deeply caring heart transformed by difficult personal life experiences. Read more.