Pubdate: Tue, 13 Mar 2001
Source: Times Record News (TX)
Copyright: 2001 The E.W. Scripps Co.
Contact:  1301 Lamar, Wichita Falls, TX 76301
Fax: (940)767-1741
Feedback: http://www.trnonline.com/opinions2/letters/form.shtml
Website: http://www.trnonline.com/
Author: Robert Sharpe
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n424/a11.html

DRUG PROGRAM NEEDS CHANGE

Regarding your March 8 editorial on the popular but ineffective Drug Abuse 
Resistance Education (DARE) program, a revamping of the widely used program 
is long overdo.

DARE's scare tactics do more harm than good. Students who realize they are 
being lied to about marijuana often make the mistake of assuming that 
harder drugs are relatively harmless as well. This is a recipe for disaster.

Anti-drug education programs need to be reality-based or they may backfire 
when kids are inevitably exposed to drug use among their peers.

After almost two decades of DARE, heroin use among high school seniors has 
reached record levels. Minimizing drug use requires strategies based on 
proven effectiveness, not "feel good" programs that please parents, 
educators and police.

Robert Sharpe, M.P.A. Program Officer The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy 
Foundation Washington, D.C. via e-mail
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