DARE'S LESSONS

EDITOR: Crispin Sartwell's article on the DARE program and its failure to
keep kids from taking drugs was the most to the point, truthful article
that I have read to date on this ineffective program and why it has failed.

As a teen-ager having "graduated" from a program very much like DARE, I can
attest to the fact that most people I know did not try drugs because of
peer pressure, but because they have heard adults in position of authority
telling them lies, half-truths and distorted facts all of their lives and
no longer trusted what they heard. As a result, many decide to try things
for themselves.

In addition, I learned more about new drugs through these programs than I
did from all of my friends throughout the years. The first time that we
heard about Ecstasy was through an anti-drug program and by the end of the
month many of my friends had already tried it. If had not been for that
program I would probably be ignorant of its existence today.

As a result I have only seen such programs do more to publicize and induce
drug use than to curb it. There will always be a group who will distrust
authority and common morals and will experiment with drugs no matter who
tells them not to.

Christian Abduel Archer, Healdsburg