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more poss i ble cancer-caus i ng
agents than tobacco smoke.
If you're an honest, t ruthseek–
ing person, you won' t bury your
head in the sand and d isregard
sueh fi nd ings. You won't be able
to honestly say after carefu l
research,
" 1
don't think pot smok–
ing harms anyone!"
The J anuary, 1980, U.S. issue
of
The Plain Truth
carried a
thorough article on the subject
entitled , " Marijuana- lt 's Fa r
from a Harmless High!"
What
lf .. .
1
have to look back at my near–
fatal accident and ask what les–
sons I learned from it.
1
am glad
1
never carelessly
used med icinal d rugs.
1
am also
glad that
1
wasn't drinking or
popping pi lls for kicks before it
happened.
1
thought that
1
had
taken reasonable precaut ions for
my safety. But accidents a nd
mishaps happen in life. Just a
li ttle slip, a little carelessness is
all it takes. Accidents and sick–
ness can happen to you too.
God doesn't want any of us to
defi le or ruin our bodies or minds
by imbibing excessive amounts of
alcohol, or casually using potent
d rugs just to thrill our senses, or
so we will be popu lar wit h
others.
What if
1
had chosen to disre–
gard what I know about d rugs
and pop pills or smoke pot any–
way? Would I have survived?
1
don't know. But if 1 did , I'm sure
God would have allowed me to
suffer an awful lot more than
1
d id to teach me Jessons about
rebell ing against His ways.
God, indeed, was merciful to
me. He intervened and helped me
survive my accident. Even the
doctors said it was a mi racle that
1 carne out with as little damage
as
1
d id.
1
can guess why 1 am alive
today. Perhaps it was because
God wanted to show merey to my
wife and my children. Yet maybe,
j ust maybe, God also Jet me sur–
vive so I could share this critical
knowled ge about d r ugs with
you!
o
42
RECORD DROUGHf
(Continued from page 6)
t ries rose by only 1.3 percent.
T his was only half the rate of
growth in their populat ion. The
leve! of production per head
d ropped during the 1970s in no
less than 6 1 developing countries.
Fifteen of these countries actually
produced less in absolute quanti–
t ies than in 1970. The resul t has
been a growing dependence by
developing countries on a few
deve loped cou n t ri es. Nort h
America, Australia and Western
Europe now provide 90 percent of
Thi rd World impor ts of wheat
and coarse g rains.
Developing nat ions wi ll be
impor ting 95 million tons of grain
in 1981. T hat is an amount that
already surpasses t he requirc–
ments expected for these nations
by the year
1985.
In 1950, these nat ions were vir–
tually self-sufficient in food sup–
plies. T hat's how rapidly the
wor ld has changed! But their
uncurbed population explosion is
bringing on them a heavy penal–
ty.
Demand for U.S. grain exports
a lo ne are now ex pected to
increase by 8 percent a year for
the fi rst half of the 1980s. Sorne
authorities feel even that estímate
is too conservat ive.
" We're using j ust about all the
available land there is," said the
director of food research at Stan–
ford University, and more pro–
ductive seed hybrids, he says, are
"15 years down the road."
l ncreases in c rop yields in
North America have leveled off.
And food authorities see no dra–
mat ic technological or biological
breakthroughs to lead to another
big leap i n food product ion.
lnc reasi ng water shortages in
many areas also limit the amount
of add it ionalland that can be con–
verted to agriculture by the use of
ir rigation.
And Now - Food lnto Fuel
"Expected export trends, in–
c reased domestic requirements
and futu re ethanol production for
fuel will put unprecedented pres–
sure on t he nation's best agricul–
tura! lands," says toe fo rmer
c hairma n of t he P resi dent's
Counci l on Envi ronmental Quali–
ty.
Weather is the most important
factor in world food supply. But
ma n y weathe rme n fear the
United States is in the grip of a
mul t i-year drought. Sorne feel
the dryness is now as serious as
the early years of the 1930s and
1950s.
What does it mean?
It
means
we are living in a new era of not
enough food for both growing
domestic Nor th Ame rican and
soaring world demands. T hat
t ranslates into soaring prices.
The Uni ted Nations Food and
Agricu1ture Organization (FAO)
says as a result of unprecedented
exports to needy nations, world
food stocks by autumn will be
down to only 14 percent of year ly
world consumption-well below
the mínimum 17 percent level
generally considered necessary to
safeguard world food security.
A FAO report says, "With
stocks below safe Jevels and bare–
ly suffic ient to keep supply chan–
nels fi lled until 198 1 crops reach
the market, the world wi ll begin
the 198 1-82 season with virtually
no cushion against majar crop
shortages." As a result, the FAO
report concl uded wor1d food
security will depend heavi ly on
the outcome of this year's cereal
harvests.
What does this mean to the
new Reagan administration's ef–
for ts to beat down infiation?
lt
means it must c hoose either
unprecedented la rge j umps in
food prices for U.S. consumers or
grain-t rade restr ict ions to c us–
tomers abroad in an attempt to
hol d prices down. The latter
c hoice is highly unl ikely.
Foreign nations are willing to
pay American farmers premium
prices for food grains. But are
Ame r ican cons umers, long
spoiled by sorne of the cheapest
food in the world, will ing to pay
world rates for their farmers' pro-
The
PLAIN TRUTH