Don Tow's Website

We are all concerned about the issue of substance abuse by our youths. By substance abuse, we are referring to drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. According to the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)[1]:

• 11.6% of the U.S. population between 12 and 17 has engaged in illicit drug use
• 29.0% of the age group 12 to 20[2] drank alcohol in the month prior to the survey, and 19.2% were binge drinkers. A binge drinker is a person who had five or more drinks on a single occasion at least once in the past 30 days
• For the age group between 12 and 17[3], 12.2% smoke (11.9% of the boys smoke and 12.5% of the girls smoke).

The above survey shows that the size of the problem is large. For example:

• 11.6% of the age group between 12 and 17 means that 2.9 million youths in this age bracket have engaged in illicit drug use
• 29.0% of the age group 12 to 20 means that 10.9 million youths in this age bracket drank alcohol in the month prior to the survey
• 7,000 young people under 16 have their first drink of alcohol every day
• 12.2% of the age group between 12 and 17 means that 3.1 million youths in this age bracket smoke.

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Tibet has been on the Western mass media quite frequently during the last few weeks. Many American and other Western politicians have also voiced very strong opinions regarding Tibet. With very few exceptions, the view expressed in the Western mass media and the Western politicians basically can be summarized with the following three viewpoints:

1. Tibet was an independent country until Communist China invaded Tibet in 1950.
2. Before 1950, Tibet was a Shangri-la country, where its citizens lived peacefully and happily with their religious and political leaders.
3. Various revolts and demonstrations in Tibet, beginning with the 1959 revolt, were popular revolts by the ordinary citizens of Tibet without any outside influence and support.

In this article I would like to let history to assess the validity of these three viewpoints.

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