DARE NOT WORKING

First, it was the U.S.-based DARE program. Now, it's the U.S.-based
"Community Safety Net" program that will "teach" Regina students about drugs.

The DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance) program, used by police in schools
has proven to be ill-conceived, ineffective and very expensive.
Students know when they're being lied to and this always causes worse
damage than simply telling the truth.

Programs like DARE and Community Safety Net tell students that
marijuana will turn them into crazy drug addicts. When they try it
and realize what they were told isn't true, maybe they start to
question the terrible things they heard about crystal meth or heroin
- -- and this is where the trouble sometimes begins. Police officers
should not be teaching drug education in schools any more than police
should be teaching sex education.

The Jan. 30 article, "New program aims to build a network" says the
Regina Police Service has approved the drug materials for use in
Regina." Why is the police service dictating what appears in the
Regina school curriculum?

There needs to be a province-wide approach to drug policy education,
where the information presented is accurate and isn't used to scare
the students, but rather to educate them about drugs, harm reduction
and drug regulation.

Benn Greer

Regina