DARE DOESN'T WORK

This is regarding the April 29 article on Delano police officers' support
of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program -- good intentions
are no substitute for effective anti-drug education.

Every methodologically sound, independent evaluation of DARE has found the
program to be either ineffective or counterproductive. The scare tactics
used 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 will
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, The Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation, Washington, DC