DRUG EDUCATION MUST BE REALITY BASED

Regarding Steve Bodnar's Mar. 20 op-ed, the importance of parental
involvement in reducing adolescent drug use cannot be overstated.
School-based extracurricular activities also have been shown to
reduce use. They keep kids busy during the hours they're most likely
to get into trouble. In order for drug prevention efforts to
effectively reduce harm, they must be reality-based. The most popular
drug and the one most closely associated with violent behavior is
often overlooked by parents. That drug is alcohol, and it takes far
more lives each year than all illegal drugs combined. Alcohol may be
legal, but it's still the No. 1 drug problem.

For decades, school-based drug prevention efforts have been dominated
by sensationalist programs like Drug Abuse Resistance Education. Good
intentions are no substitute for effective drug education.
Independent evaluations of DARE have found the program to be either
ineffective or counterproductive. The scare tactics used do more harm
than good. Students who realize they've been lied to about marijuana
may make the mistake of assuming that harder drugs like
methamphetamine are relatively harmless as well. This is a recipe for
disaster. Drug education programs must be reality-based or they may
backfire when kids are inevitably exposed to drug use among their peers.

Robert Sharpe,

Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, DC