Charles Zucker didn't think he was stirring up any trouble in December of 1974 when he decided to publish a poll in the Crimson Crier newspaper on student drug use at Andrew Warde High School. It was a follow-up to an original story which appeared in the student publication several years earlier."I was (managing) editor of the paper in our junior and senior year," said Zucker, who was unable to attend the Class of 1976 30-year reunion two years ago due to the birth of his daughter, Amalia, four weeks before the event. "They (the newspaper's previous staff) had done a drug issue, and I wanted to do our take on it."
Along with the story, which featured an interview from four years earlier with a Fairfield police captain, Zucker included a Crimson Crier poll illustrating widespread drug use at Warde. According to the poll, "More than half the students at Warde have tried marijuana, and 90% of them continue to smoke it with some regularity."
Zucker, who currently lives in California with his wife and daughter, said there wasn't a great deal of response initially. "We got one small mention in the Bridgeport Post in an article about student drug use in a lot of Fairfield County, but not a lick of follow-up," he said. "My own parents didn't have a clue what I was up to."
The poll showed that 23 percent of the students had tried other drugs. Speed was mentioned most often, followed by LSD, THC, mushrooms, amphetamines, mescaline, barbiturates, cocaine, and heroin. However, Zucker included a disclaimer which stated that "the validity of the survey is fairly questionable."
The poll indicated that 68% of seniors, 67% of juniors, 33% of sophomores, and 39% of freshmen had smoked marijuana. Fifty-seven percent of those polled schoolwide believed that pot should be legalized, including 84% of smokers (all four grades) and 80% of juniors.
The newspaper also included an editorial which promoted the legalization of marijuana. "The traditional arguments which have been raised against the drug are no longer valid, and the next Congress would be wise to remove the penalties now associated with it," the editorial stated.
Zucker said that he was at odds with faculty members who helped with the newspaper. "I had constant problems with the advisers, although, again, (it was) night and day compared to what would have happened today. I fought with one of the teachers one too many times over a 'freedom of speech' issue, and he quit!
"The concept was that kids have freedom of speech and none of the faculty would interfere," added Zucker. "In fact, I can remember ending up in the headmaster's office showing him an article I was trying to push through. It was about getting laid in a car. He tried to talk me out of it on artistic grounds, but left it up to me."
The controversial drug issue featured a word scramble, a cartoon, an eye-opening interview with a freshman who had been smoking pot since seventh-grade, a photo spread titled "Does Your Child Use Narcotics?" and an exclusive interview with headmaster Ken Petersen about his personal views on drugs and how they relate to Andrew Warde High School.
"I didn't do any of this alone, although, admittedly, I wrote a lot of the drug issue," Zucker pointed out. "Jimmy Bresler, a senior, was Editor in Chief of that issue. He wrote the "Legalize Pot" editorial and compiled the stats on the poll. Scott Becker was a great writer (and) editor with me for (our) junior and senior years. He ended up running and owning his own music magazine for many years."
Zucker said the newspaper advisor ultimately quit due to a movie summary which Zucker painstakingly created. "I had assembled a calendar of all the movies playing at Sacred Heart University, Fairfield University, (the) Westport Playhouse, etc. Remember, (there was) no Internet. I was pretty proud of it. This teacher asked if there were any X-Rated movies (on the list). I said, 'Last Tango in Paris.' He said, 'It has to go.'"
How did Zucker react? "I went mental and pointed out that we were not pedaling porn," he emphasized. "Last Tango was nominated for two Academy Awards and, besides, there were students who were over 18. We were simply providing information. He started perusing the list and said, 'Hey, what's this movie The Hustler?' The list stayed. He went. In hindsight, I probably would have been a jerk about it again."
Zucker's job was to make the newspaper interesting and get students reading and talking about it. He succeeded. Even thirty-four years later the "drug issue" is still getting ink. However, Zucker said the adviser's comments following the publication of the first newspaper in 1974 weren't too encouraging.
"(He) had pointed out after our first issue that no one in his home room had even picked up their copy of the Crier to glance at it. We had our work cut out for us," Zucker admitted. "I'll betcha kids were picking up the issue with someone smoking a giant JOINT on the cover. Understand, we were TRYING to be provocative and subversive."
Zucker, who is enjoying his role as a new Dad, strongly feels life was better for youngsters a generation ago. "I feel lucky that we got to have a childhood where parents weren't freaked out all the time about what we were doing, even if some of us went a liitle too far sometimes. Kids today are so overscheduled it would make you cry. In 18 years at your parents house, did they ever set up a play date for you?"
Indeed, how times have changed.
Paul
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