IF NOT DARE, THEN WHAT?

Well, the mailbox exploded with reader's letters this week, so I'll
keep my comments short. First off, it certainly is great to see so
many people putting pen to paper and dropping us a line here at the
Nipawin Journal! Good on you and keep those letters coming!

The bulk of our letters this week continue to be on the subject of the
Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program with those responding
in opposition of it.

My only question to those who seem to have a hate-on for the DARE
program is this: what would you put in its place? If there is a
"better" program out there that can educate our youth on drug abuse,
let's hear it. How should our youth receive a drug education - in a
back alley or from Cheech and Chong movies? My money's still on our
RCMP, who are already teaching this program in schools across North
America.

Obviously, my view of having RCMP officers in schools as a positive
influence was not a popular one, but I stick by it. I would rather see
young people growing up with the knowledge that if they have a problem
or they witness something that might harm themselves or others they
can feel safe and comfortable turning to our RCMP members.

Let's pop this bubble right now - the RCMP are not "out to get"
anyone. They are here to help protect the public and keep the peace.

Oh yeah, another requirement to become an RCMP officer is to be a
human. Contrary to the propaganda that RCMP officers are stiff,
authoritarian power-abusers, they are in fact ordinary people
underneath the uniform. Go figure!

It seems the fact that RCMP members are people, too, is overlooked.
It's easy to point fingers and say that they dictate how we live our
lives, but in reality they abide by the same laws of the land that
everyone else does.