DARE'S HARMFUL TACTICS

Regarding your thoughtful Feb. 20 editorial on the popular but
ineffective Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program ("DARE's
downfall"), a revamping of the widely used program is long overdue.
DARE's scare tactics do more harm than good. Students who realize
that 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 may
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