DARE ARMS KIDS WITH INFORMATION ABOUT DRUGS

Drugs in the community are a fact of life. They aren't going away.
But the impact of drugs can be mitigated through awareness, education
and enforcement.

Left unchecked, drugs can be ruinous. Barrie police linked drug use
to last Friday's crackdown on street-level prostitution. Those caught
in the sweep included pregnant women and grandmothers.

Police say unprotected sex was offered for an additional fee, raising
the scary prospect of the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases,
including AIDS.

As important as enforcement is in cracking down on drugs, educating
young people about the perils of taking drugs is just as important.
Effective programs exist to carry out this task, including the DARE
program (Drug Abuse Resistance Education).

Every year hundreds of county students participate in a 10-week DARE
program, modelled after a program founded in 1983 in Los Angeles. The
program strives to give young people the knowledge and insight needed
to fight the pull of drugs, and avoid the traps that ensnare so many.

The success of the program can't be ignored. Millions of school
children around the world participate, with the program in place in
43 countries. It's taught by officers to children from kindergarten
to Grade 12.

The officers have the on-the-job experience to answer difficult
questions about drug abuse. Having seen the ravages of drug abuse
close up, the instructors are credible messengers.

The DARE program is an example of community policing at work. It
helps young people relate to officers by placing them in a mentoring
role, not just enforcement. It opens a dialogue that helps break down
barriers to communication, not only to police but to parents and
teachers as well.

Programs like DARE provide no guarantees that young people won't be
enticed into experimenting with drugs. But it arms them with
information about the impact of drugs, and tells them it's alright to
resist peer pressure - that they do have a choice.

Even with heightened enforcement, it's difficult to see a day when
drugs won't destroy lives. Meth labs get busted, and others open up.
Crack houses close down and move somewhere else.

But their potential for damage can be reduced, managed even, through
programs that educate young people. To be forewarned is to be
forearmed. That's a powerful defense.