Attorney General Meir Shamgar said today that he was alarmed by the increasing use of opium and other hard drugs by Israeli youth but would not recommend an anti-drug advertising campaign because that might only arouse curiosity and lead more youngsters to sample the drugs.
Shamgar said opium use was found among soldiers, high school students and even among grade school children and was spreading. At the same time, however, school children seem to be aware of the dangers of drugs, Shamgar said, and he thought the best way to solve the problem was through personal talks with small groups of youngsters.
The government was not relenting in its campaign to wipe out the use of the so-called “soft drugs” such as hashish and marijuana, Shamgar stated. He added he was categorically opposed to recommendations made in the United States for a permissive attitude toward marijuana. There is no proof that these drugs are not harmful and no reason for Israel to change its present policy against them, he observed.
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