Drug Abuse a New Concern for 'Good, Jewish Families'

By CHARLOTTE DUBIN
ties and some parents, when he, What Bronson was suggesting number of mind-expanding nar- Principal Hall recalls that,
The last time Danny talked to / estimated that 50 per cent of the I is that drugs are expensive. cotics has multiplied with such without exception, the parents of
his father was a week ago. On his high school students in southern I They are readily available, yes, rapidity that the one-year catch-all 16 apprehended students were
way to a bowling tournament, the South Oakland County had some but young people with limited statute hardly begins to meet the "shocked."
One teacher remarked, "I can
problem. It would be tough to keep
funds can not afford them.
older man stopped to ask his son experience with drugs.
spot a kid on pot a mile away; I
bow he was doing in school and The number is closer to 22 per
The four students who talked to bananas, hair lacquer and glue off don't know how parents can be so
gave him $10 to "go buy some- cent, according to an informal The Jewish News denied that the store shelves.
Why the problem now? Dr. blind."
thing."
survey conducted among 508 jun- marijuana is costly: $6 or $7 for 10
Not all parents are blind; they
Danny's mother had already left fors and seniors at Oak Park High ounces, they said. They buy the Herbert Raskin, Detroit psychia- choose not to see. "We play a
the house for her class in contem- , School.
"grass" in bulk, then smoke it in trist who is considered among the game," Mark explained. "They
foremost
authorities
on
nar-
porary world problems.
I The truth probably lies some- a pipe or roll their own cigarettes.
know but don't let on that they
The boy picked at the supper where in between. Of four Oak Although Speed (a drug whose cotics, links the increase to a know. And we pretend that we
she'd left for him. Then he went Park High students who confided brand name is Methedrine) and change in attitude, availability don't
know that they know."
and
the
acceptance
of
drug
use
downtown with a few of the guys their use of drugs to The Jewish LSD are not unknown to them, it
(Next week: Why Jewish
and spent the $10 on marijuana. News, two called the Oak Park is marijuana that "makes you feel by the youthful peer group.
teen-agers?)
Discussion of drugs is more
Danny is a composite of the health services questionnaire great" and which they smoke with
teen-agers who are taking mari- "Mickey Mouse," one tore it up, the greatest frequency — on an open; not only are youngsters un-
afraid to talk about it, many actu- B-G Granddaughter
juana in such numbers as to and the fourth wasn't in school average of twice a week.
cause alarm throughout the na- that day.
Eight months ago they were in- ally condone it. Even those who
would not take marijuana are will- to Prove Jewishness
tion. Drug abuse has been with
troduced
to
drugs.
"It
was
like
They all agreed that a "low" 22
ing to fight for its legalization.
the large cities for a long time; per
TEL AVIV (ZINS)—The rab-
cent was an estimate in their the thing to try. Before, it was mo-
"Everyone knows someone who
yet last year the rate of inci- favor:
torcycles or alcohol."
binate of Haifa withheld the mar-
dence among teen-agers 17 and users. it takes the heat off the
But whereas alcohol and motor-, is pushing," said one user. "We riage certificate from David
don't
have
to
go
all
the
way
down-
under—at least those who have
cycles were, apparently, a passing
Most high school students do fad, "drugs are a part of our life." town (Wayne State University's Ben-Gurion's granddaughter, un-
come to the attention of the po-
til she could furnish documented
not smoke marijuana or LSD.
lice—more than doubled.
The four see nothing wrong in it. campus) for it," he said. "We can proof that her mother, Mary,
What was "one of those things" They reject Speed, DET (diethyl- "The older generation have their get it right here in Oak Park."
Huntington Woods child psychi- being of British descent, had
among the lower socio-economic tryptamine), glue sniffing and own bag—alcohol, smoking. Why
converted according to
levels of urban populations is now the host of manufactured and shouldn't we live our own lives?" atrist Dr. Morris Weiss suggests been
law.
"one of those things" in comi makeshift drugs that have be-
They're intelligent, friendly kids. that the high school preoccupation Jewish
Galiya,
who has served in the
come
readily
available.
with
drugs
may
have
"trickled
fortable suburban areas. •
Although schoolwork and typical
Army, submitted her
The Jews once could pride But more good kids from good high school activities generally do down from the college level. . . . Israeli
mother
's
identification card
themselves on the fact that the farnilies—"good Jewish families," not appeal to them, they read a Many things their 'big brothers' do
states that Mary Ben-
extremes of addiction—alcohol and as one school principal put it— great deal on their own and are catches on with younger students. which
Gurion
is
properly
Jewish. The
Take literature, for example. Two
drugs — were unknown. It is no are trying it for kicks, out of curi- able to hold down jobs.
longer true: alcoholism and drug osity or the desire to swing with
One of them did recall, how- years ago, they were reading rabbi, however, refused to rec-
this document.
abuse are with us. the crowd. These teen-agers may ever, that before going into work ---Catcher in the Rye' in college; ognize
He declared that in the ab-
They are with us in Southfield, take it once and swear off for one day, he smoked a "joint," now it's popular in high school. sence
of
specific confirmation
Marijuana
seems
to
have
followed
and
"all
I
wanted
to
do
was
lis-
and they are with us in Oak Park. good.
attesting to her mother's con-
ten to records. I couldn't work." the same pattern."
Oakland County Prosecutor S. Some do not swear off. A grow-
version,
Galiya's
Jewishness is
The
problem
has
not
escaped
the
Jerome Bronson recently created ing number of teen-agers who can-
At least two of them admitted
a stir among education authori- not cope with this straight world— that their marks "may have attention of Rabbi Irwin Groner of in grave doubt, and her name
would
not
be
recorded
in the
whose reality is a "good trip" or slipped a little" in past months. Shaarey Zedek Synagogue. He in-
They like the "mild euphoria" sists that the taking of marijuana wedding certificate.
a "bad trip" — present the most
Under
pressure,
however,
the
that comes with smoking man- is not merely youthful rebellion;
Legal Steps Basic crucial problem.
Far out of proportion to their juana. "It dissolves your ego; "it's culturally sanctioned. It be- rabbinate finally agreed to issue
comes a kind of amusement, diver- the bride a license, and the nup-
numbers in the total population, you're more congenial."
in U.S. for Entry of Jewish
tians will be celebrated April 3.
teen-agers have become in-
However, it occurred to them as sion, leisure-time activity.
Israeli Army Chief Chaplain
"We live in a world increasing-
they spoke that "everything, every
Soviet Jews—Celler volved.
Goren, will conduct the wedding
.John Dowsett was a probation emotion, is intensified. Anger too ly emphasizing pleasure seek-
NEW YORK (JTA) — Rep. officer in Oak Park for 12 years . . . if somebody keeps bugging ing," said Rabbi Groner. "Young ceremony.
Said Mary Ben-Gurion, "The
people respond to this unofficial
Emanuel Celler, chairman of the before assuming his present post you."
Mark, who was Bar Mitzva and philosophy of life of their par- whole sensational affair . -
House Judiciary Committee, called as court services director of the
played
up by the press, was
ents.
If
drugs
offer
a
form
of
Sunday for revision of the 1965 Oakland County Juvenile Court.. confirmed, said he "turned atheist
aimed only to embarrass my
Immigration Act to make provision Until last year, he had never seen for a while. We realized that we ecstasy, they too wish to dis-
father-in-law.
. . . The newspa-
for the admission into this country a drug abuse case prosecuted.
were the only gods of our life." cover new experiences."
Logically, the first persons to pers meant to hurt David Ben-
In 1967, there were seven in But, now, after some thought and
of Jews and others leaving a Corn-
munist or Communist-dominated South Oakland County, one boy reading, "I believe in the sun god. notice that something is wrong are Gurion though he has suffered
age 14, one 15 and the rest 16. You can worship it everywhere." parents. In truth, they often are so much over the loss of his
land.
Celler told the 84th annual meet- The majority were from the
He has studied many religions the last to know. I wife."
ing of United Hias Service that Southfield - Oak Park - Birmingham in Sunday school, Mark said, "and
"sooner or later" the time will area.
I guess I know a little about Juda-
Johnson Greets Israel's Ambassador
According to Robert Hall, prin- ism too.
come when the Soviet Union "rolls
up its curtain to permit Jews to cipal of Southfield .High School, 16
As far as physical damage is
WASHINGTON (JTA)—President pendence."
leave." He aid Congrss
e should ' students in the area (10 from concerned, the students pooh- Johnson and Israel's new ambassa- I Noting that nearly 20 years have
be prepareds for such an emery Southfield-Lathrup High, a new p oohed the idea. Nothing has been dor to the United States, Maj. Gen. , passed since the first Israeli am-
' school which has only 9th and 10th proven, they pointed out. (They
gency.
The New York Congressman told grades) have been apprehended in bring
conceded
that an Even
overdose
"could Yitzhak
bin exchanged
bassador
his
nausea.")
the experts
though R
formal,
messages warm,
of greet-
to the presented
President
of credentials
the United
the meeting that elimination of the connection with drugs.
ing Tuesday as Gen. Rabin
national origins quota system from They were all from affluent insist that marijuana is not addic-
- "these have been years of constant
the immigration law had been a families. All but two or three tive. "If we want to stop, we can," Feared at the White House to pre- States, Ambassador Rabin said
victory that was "too late" for were Jewish. The fact that the the four agreed. They also agreed sent his credentials to the Presi- friendship, understanding a n d
thousands of human lives. This, he student population
at no
both
t t Johnson
t t dent.
respect
for has
Israel.
re-
t a ey o
wan South-
o s op. h t th d
Mr.
said mutual
the United
lationship
been a This
source
of
insisted, "must not happen again." , field and Southfield-Lathrup is
More than 10 miles away, on States was "deeply concerned at great encouragement in her strug-
He proposed that the attorney- roughly 40 per cent Jewish does Jefferson Avenue, in Detroit. is an
the
continuing
tension
and
repeated
gle
for
freedom,
security
and
general be giVen discretion to "per- not make the picture any agency called Synanon, , a volun-
peace. It is also an hour of oppor-
tary group of former drug addicts conflicts between Israel and its
mit entry by parole, without refer- brighter.
George Mulqueen, chairman of who helped themselves, and now neighbors" and agreed with Am. tunity for the peoples of our his-
ence to numbers, to those who
others,
kick
the
habit.
Ed
bassador
Rabin
that
"there
is,
for
tom
region to end the scourge of
leave a Communist or Communist- the 'Oak Park Youth Guidance help
war and inaugurate an era of peace
Board, has seen an increase in re- Patterson, who is on the staff, es- the first time in two decades, a
dominated country."
— timates that of the 1,000 members realistic opportunity for the peace- , and responsibility. Israel !mill not
Carlos L. Israels, president of ferrals in the last two years • A
found wanting in readiness to
United Hias, noted that thous- ' community that likes to think of nationw ide, 90 per cent started ful settlement the people of Israel be advance
this cherished goal."
ands of Jews still in Arab lands I itself as close-knit, Oak Park tries with marijuana and graduated to and other lands in the Near East
so
supremely
deserve"
and
"that
;
President Johnson's message
received technical and financial to keep its juvenile offenders out "hard stuff"—heroin.
I stated in part: "In this the 20th
"A lot of Jewish people don't opportunity must not be lost."
aid and said that "we pledge to of court. The youth board last
The exchange of messages was • year of Israel's independence it is
provide whatever assistance is year (1966) saw 25 cases; this year believe it exists among their
kids," said Patterson, "but they in writing. Owing to the Presi- 1 timely that we review the cordial
needed for their resettlement in (1967) 40.
Western countries." Bronson, who has created a sPe- (young Jews) are in the running." dent's heavy schedule, he did not 1 relations and p r o g r e s s i v e 1 y
Gaynor I. Jacobson, the organ- cial division and a special advisory "Drug abuse didn't come out of meet privately with Ambassador! stronger ties which bind our two
ization's executive director, said council to deal with the problem nowhere," Prosecutor Bronson in- Rabin but received him jointly countries together. With our own
there were 15,000 refugees from of drug abuse among teen-agers, sists. "Alcohol is a drug abuse. with the newly-arrived envoys of history in mind, we in the United
Arab countries in Italy and France, noted with some irony that "when Let's look at it in our own homes. four other nations who presented States have watched with compre-
many of whom desired to emigrate drug abuse was in the Negro It's far beyond what it tradition- their credentials. A White House hension and sympathy as Israel
to Western countries. In addition, ghetto, we weren't as concerned. ally was in Jewish families." spokesman said the meeting was a has accommodated within its bor-
Bronson does not mince words formality and no matters of sub- ders a population from many
he said, the agency will continue Now it is not the deprived Negro,
its aid program for migrants from but the children of respectable about his crusade against drugs: stance were discussed. Ambassa- lands and constructed for them,
North Africa, Eastern Europe and suburban, middle-class people we "I will prosecute those who use dor Rabin drove in a special through the application of science
it," he said. limousine sent by the White and unremitting effort, a produc-
Cuba seekirig reunion with their are arresting."
He has castigated, at every op- House, flying U.S. and Israel flags. tive and prospering community.
He stressed that "this is not just
families in the free world. •
A replica of the Statue of Liberty a Jewish problem" but at the portunity, an outmoded, illogical, He was accompanied by a police We have admired the generosity
was presented to Rep. Celler by same time, "we cannot ignore the inadequate system of drug laws by motorcycle escort. In his message and skill with which Israel has
Murray I. Gurfein, chairman of frequency of Jewish teens taking which an adult marijuana user can to the President, he said: contributed to the development of
.
get up to 10 years' imprisonment if
the United Hias executive commit- drugs."
"The people of Israel know other nations."
There are 60 cities and villages a first offense. For the sale and and appreciate your personal in-
tee, in recognition of his "devoted
The other ambassadors who pre-
efforts to make our country a in Oakland County. "Why don't we possession of LSD, the maximum terest in the welfare of their sented their credentials at the
haven for the oppressed and per- get as much of a drug problem in sentence is four years; and all country. They are also mindful of same time as Ambassador Rabin
secuted." A scroll was presented Waterford or Madison Heights? other proscribed drugs—from DET the effort and sacrifice which were ,those of Somalia, India,
to Adolph ,Held by Edwin Rosen- Cultures differ; those in Madison to Speed—one year. Minors under your country is devoting to the Nigeria and Panama. President
berg, chairman of the national Heights may get their kicks with 17 escape the maximum penalties promotion of international peace. Johnson b r i e f 1 y greeted each
council, in recognition of Mr. another kind of antisocial behavior. unless they commit what is consid- founded on the equal rights of separately a n d permitted photo-
Held's "dedication to the cause of After all, they have to save for ered a felony in an adult court all nations, great and small, to a graphers and television to record
Jewish refugees" in more than a their first automobile; in Birming- and the juvenile court judge grants life of security freedom and hide- the exchange of credentials.
half-century of service as a mem-1 ham or Southfield they have their a waiver of jurisdiction.
Bronson is concerned that the 48, — Friday, March 8, 1968
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
ber of the United Elias Board. car given to them."

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