`DARE HELPED MY DAUGHTER'

Dear sir: Re: recent election campaign story in The Citizen where a
Marijuana Party candidate questioned the effectiveness of the DARE program.

I'm the mother of an 11 year-old that just graduated from the DARE
program. I was also instrumental in having the DARE program brought to our
school.

I attended an informational session about DARE a few years back as I felt I
needed as much information as possible to help educate my daughter about
the harmful effects of drug use. I have also seen first hand what drug
abuse and drug overdose resulting in death can do to a family. I feel as a
parent, I need all the help I can get in dealing with this issue.

The DARE program helped to initiate informed communication about drug use
for my daughter and I. My daughter says the DARE program taught her about
drugs and alcohol and the consequences you have to live with if you abuse them.

She says she knows how to say no to drugs and still be cool. She says she
wants to live a happy, healthy lifestyle and drugs can get in the way of
her dreams if she'll let it.

She says she also learned through the DARE program that drugs and violence
often go together. She says she will never forget what she was taught and
the trip to the police station where students got to go in a cell and
really feel what it is like if you are caught with drugs or being violent.
She says she will never forget the smells.

No program is perfect, but I take my hat off to the RCMP constables that
take the training to help us as parents help our children to make informed
choices about drug use.

Marijuana Party candidate Andrej DeWolf said in The Citizen
``drug-awareness programs should not be taught by RCMP officers, who could
better be used to deal with other crime.''

I will bet that 90% of ``other crime'' is directly related to drugs,
violence and alcohol abuse. What better teacher do we have than one who
has seen first hand the destruction and pain that goes hand in hand with
this problem? Education is our best weapon in keeping our children
drug-free and lowering the crime rate in the future.

Brenda L. Daly,
Prince George