DARE CRITICS HAVE AGENDA TO LEGALIZE MARIJUANA

In light of recent political comments and media attention both locally and
elsewhere in the province regarding Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE),
I felt a responsibility to provide some factual information about this
program to preventfurther conjecture.

For those of you not familiar with DARE, this is a drug awareness program
which focuses on resistance training and some of the possible reasons
people may abuse drugs and alcohol. But it is not only about drugs, DARE
attempts to give kids the tools they need to make wise choices during a
time when they are most vulnerable. We teach these many subjects in a
17-week program utilizing group work, role play, special guests and
discussion. An important component of this core curriculum is a follow-up
program delivered at the middle school level.

This program was developed in 1983 when the Los Angeles Unified School
District saw a need to get drug awareness and police into the schools.
Although the course was developed in the United States, it only mentions
the U.S. in one of the lessons, when it refers to a national poll taken of
a group of Grade 7 students. This program is not about the United States or
Canadian sovereignty, it's about our youth. DARE America in Los Angeles is
a not-for-profit corporation similar to the Red Cross and the United Way.
When this program began in Merritt almost two years ago DARE America
shipped me 100 workbooks at no charge to get our program started. They
provide updates to the curriculum free of charge. None of the money which
has been raised or donated to Merritt DARE has gone to the States. I
purchase all of our DARE merchandising from a company in Edmonton as there
is no such company here in British Columbia.

There is opposition to DARE from groups like the Lindesman Centre and the
Marijuana Party, who support the legalization of marijuana. The unfortunate
part is these groups choose to target youth programs to make their point.
For those interested, there are numerous research papers which can be found
on the Web at www.dare.com and one Canadian research paper which can be
found at www.wvpolice.org.

DARE is not the be all or end all of drug awareness programs. Only in
conjunction with other initiatives and education by parents and teachers
will we make a difference. It is very reassuring to see that the opponents
of this program are the minority and the vast majority are supporters.

Anyone with questions about the program please feel free to contact me at
the Merritt RCMP detachment.

Cpl. Sean Neary
DARE instructor
Merritt RCMP