KIDS NEED TO KNOW THE RISKS OF DRUGS

The New York Times ran an article the other day which noted that the drug
prevention program DARE, whose acronym stands for Drug Abuse Resistance
Education, "has not had sufficient impact" and that its leaders "are
developing a new approach to spreading their message."

The DARE program was founded 18 years ago in the spirit of then-first lady
Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" approach, and it is now taught in 75 percent of
school districts nationwide. So after nearly two decades, I'm sure it's time
to retool the program. We've learned a lot of things in that time, and we
can't stay with something like that forever in an ever-changing world.

So developing a new strategy to prevent drug use is not a bad thing. The
sight of a teary-eyed school kid standing next to Officer Friendly, talking
about how much DARE meant to him, can get old quickly.

But as the program is revised, let's make sure the core message isn't lost -
that students can fight peer pressure and that experimentation with drugs
can be dangerous.

Also, let's give DARE some credit: it did help in delaying the onset of
first-time drug use, and it got cops into schools, which in many areas of
the country is very important.

SHORT-TERM STUDIES on DARE's impact showed that it worked OK with seventh-,
eighth- and ninth-graders. Follow-up studies that surveyed high school
students or those who graduated showed DARE to be ineffective. Thus the
conclusion that the thousands of dollars each community spent on DARE,
sending police officers into schools to talk with elementary students, was
wasted.

Have you figured out the problem yet? Anti-drug programs have to be ongoing;
they have to continue into high school - and sometimes beyond. '

But according to the Times, "The new strategy will shift the program's focus
from fifth grade to seventh grade, and adds a booster program in ninth
grade, because students in the higher grades are more likely to experiment
with drugs."

Again, we need to -- pardon the pun -- take this anti-drug message higher.

Furthermore, according to retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent
Wayne J. Rogues, "DARE was intended to be a supplement for other drug
programs." In other words, we shouldn't put all of our drug-prevention eggs
in one basket.

Rogues, who is now a prevention specialist also emphasized the importance of
postponing the initial use of illegal drugs. The longer a kid "just says
no," the better, and on that count, DARE deserves some credit

ONE OF THE YEAR'S top movies is 'Traffic," which connects three sub- plots
to tell how we are losing the war on drugs. The film provides many scenes
that give the viewer the impression that America's drug war is, in the words
of Tribune movie critic Bob Ross, "hypocritical, unwinnable and generally
corrupt"

While America's frustration with the drug war is understandable, it's
unfortunate that many seem to be calling for surrender, either in the form
of legalization of now-illegal drugs or a limited, more politically
palatable capitulation in the form of decriminalization of drug use.

Regardless of how one believes we should deal with our drug problem, few can
disagree that prevention is by far the most effective weapon. And just as in
our efforts to stop teen pregnancies, we can't give a kid one lesson and
expect it to sink in the first time or to last forever if it does.

That's why, for all its faults, DARE offered consistent messages to
students: Peer pressure is a problem, but you can fight it. Drugs are
pleasurable but destructive. So mending, not ending DARE is a good strategy.

Even if we should decide to take a libertarian approach to drug -use, we
have to continue the message that drugs ruin lives. And that message should
be sent early and often.