Dear Editor,
Well last year in Grade 6, Const. Johnson came to the elementary school to teach us about DARE, and she is the reason why I will never smoke, drink or do drugs. We spent 10 weeks learning about DARE and DDMM, which is the Dare Decision Making Model.
First, I would like to talk about marijuana. Marijuana affects every part of your body, but it affects your brain the most. This harmful drug starts to kill your brain cells. After time, it starts to affect the way you think and reason. Marijuana causes you to lose your ability to concentrate, and causes you to have short-term memory loss. People that do or have done marijuana have an increased risk of cancer. This tells me that using marijuana is not healthy for your body. So don’t do it.
The second thing I want to talk about is tobacco. Tobacco is one substance that is legal for people to use over the age of 18. This does not make it a healthy choice. Some of the health effects due to prolonged use of tobacco are breathing problems, more colds and upper respiratory problems, and smoking causes lung cancer. In the end, I learned that smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in this country, and it is addictive to the people who smoke.
The last thing I will be talking about is alcohol. Alcohol is one of the most acceptable drugs in the world. Some of the harmful things that can happen to you when you use alcohol is: loss of co-ordination, slowed reflexes, loss of self-control, poor judgement, memory lapses and slurred speech. Alcohol goes directly into your blood stream and increases your risk of diseases. Alcohol can damage every organ in your body, especially your liver. This tells me that constant use is not good for you, so try to stop your family members from doing it.
As I grow up, I will use the Dare Decision Making Model.
Thank you Const. Johnson for teaching us DARE in Grade 6.
Monique Kawa
