DARE PROGRAM

Regarding the Jan. 28 article on the Drug Abuse Resistance Education
program (B-1), every methodologically sound evaluation of the program has
found DARE to be either ineffective or counterproductive. Minimizing drug
use requires strategies based on proven effectiveness, not "feel good"
programs that please parents, educators and police.

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 may
backfire when kids are inevitably exposed to drug use among their peers.
DARE is part of the problem, not the solution.

Robert Sharpe, Program Officer, the Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy
Foundation (www.drugpolicy.org)