Students Rally At Capitol Against Drugs Drug-Free Washington Month Draws 1,000 To Olympia

Bus loads of students, educators and parents from around the state came to the capital Friday to celebrate Drug-Free Washington Month.

The rally, preceded by a march down the streets of Olympia, was attended by more than 1,000 people, some of whom held signs that read “Be High on Life Not Drugs,” and “A High Doesn’t Last Forever, But Your Brain Does.”

At the beginning of the rally, awards were given to student winners of statewide poster and rap contests. Organizers said the contest was a way for students to express their feelings about drugs and alcohol abuse.

First-place winner Irving Nicholas, a 15-year-old sophomore from Garfield High in Seattle, performed his rap song, “A Dog’s Life.”

He said he got involved in the contest as a way to show other students that drugs are not cool.

“If you want to live a long life, you can’t take drugs,” Nicholas said.

“I wanted to make people realize that for every one person who smokes bongs or crack, there are 20 others that don’t.”

“If you keep doing drugs, you’ll flush your life away,” said third-place winner Joe Longaker, 16, from Central Kitsap High School in Silverdale.

There were more than 1,200 entries in the contest. The 12 winners’ projects are on display in the Capitol Building.

Republican Sen. Hal Palmer, chairman of a community drug and alcohol treatment center in Longview, told students they should be commended for staying off drugs.

“This is a far more serious problem for your generation than it was for mine,” Palmer said.

Sen. Brad Owen, D-Shelton, said drug and alcohol abuse is the biggest problem facing Washington, the nation and the world.

“I feel the best way to solve this problem is through prevention programs,” Owen said.