ONE WEAPON WON'T WIN THE DRUG WAR

If you want to feel really bad about the so-called drug war, find time to
see Traffic, the new Michael Douglas movie about the Mexican drug trade.

It's a good movie, but the message is simple: We're losing. And we're not
just losing the war in terms of the shear volume of drugs making their way
across the border and into our communities. The movie asserts that we're
losing the battle in our own homes.

Then, last week, the surgeon general reported on almost two years of
studying youth violence, which is tied closely to the drug problem. The
results were disheartening. Not only do we not have a clear idea of what
causes kids to take drugs and act out, what we are doing to fight the
problem doesn't seem to be working, either. The only thing that works, the
report says, is parental involvement. Yeah, when was the last time you felt
like you had an influence in your teen's life? But studies increasingly
show that parents do have the greatest influence, even if it never seems
that way.

The report also marked the first time a federal report criticized the Drug
Abuse Resistance Education program. Specifically, the report says that
targeting students too early has not proved to be successful. Young
children are just too naive to understand the peer pressure they will face
down the road. DARE has long been a target of critics who want to see proof
of results.

Statistics abound that say DARE is not effective. Some studies even say it
creates more of a problem by educating kids about some drugs, including
inhalants and hallucinogens, that they may not have been exposed to
otherwise. Tell a kid that he can get high by sniffing something kept under
the kitchen sink and that it will hurt him, and all he hears is that he can
get high by sniffing something kept under the kitchen sink.

Even the numbers on the Texas DARE Web site indicate that the effect on
students is minimal. Of students who have never been in a DARE program,
which is a lot like a mini-course in how to say no, 21.9 percent report
heavy drug use. Of DARE students, the number is 20.7 percent.

Accountability

But Tony Arangio, the Arlington school district's anti-drug czar, says we
should not necessarily blame DARE when statistics don't go our way.
Likewise, he says we should not credit DARE if the trends are positive, as
they are in Arlington right now.

DARE is only one tool the district uses to educate students on the dangers
of drugs. Teachers and principals report that students like the program,
and they feel safer knowing there is a DARE police officer around, but what
is the real effect?

We don't know. Dr. Arangio wants to change that. He would like to do a
student survey that matches attitudes about DARE - Do you remember what you
learned? Has it helped you avoid peer pressure? - with the district's
annual survey on how often students use drugs and alcohol.

For now, though, all we can do is look at the annual survey, which is
mostly full of good news. For grades seven through 12, tobacco use has
dropped significantly. The number of students who said they have smoked in
the past month dropped from 25 percent to about 20 percent since 1998.
Almost without fail, every indicator went down. Ecstasy use has jumped, and
that is Dr. Arangio's top concern right now, but he can't help being
pleased - and a little surprised - at the progress in other categories.

Also, among students in grades four through six, the number who have ever
used tobacco has sharply declined.

Again, Dr. Arangio says DARE cannot be seen as the only factor, especially
in Arlington. Not all districts have an anti-drug czar, but in Arlington,
local taxpayers pay half of Dr. Arangio's salary and fund five more
intervention specialists. A sixth, at the Turning Point campus, has been
paid for with federal funds, but it will be up to the district to fund that
position next year.

Taking action

This anti-drug squad met with 39,000 students in small class settings in
the past year. On a one-on-one basis, they met with thousands more. Some of
these meetings were required as part of the discipline process, but many
other meetings were with students referred by teachers, parents or even
their friends.

The intervention specialists mostly just provide "cutting-edge medical
information," Dr. Arangio says, "not moral judgments." "We know they have
reasons [for using drugs]," he said. "We don't lie to the kids. We know
they are self-medicating, for whatever reason."

In trying to understand why I have never used illegal drugs, I asked
around. The consensus was simple among others who share my lack of
experience. We didn't want to let our parents down. We didn't want to be
seen as something less than we were. We didn't want to be "druggies."

But some kids today don't worry about letting anyone down. They think drugs
make them more than who they are - part of the crowd. The hope is that if
they get to know the intervention specialists and DARE officers, that might
change.

But we all know that no one dispenses guilt like Mom.

Dr. Arangio says he also tries to make students question the motive of
those who sell drugs. It's all about money, of course; dealers don't care
about their customers, and they won't be there when the kids need help.

"The enemy is not the drug," Dr. Arangio says. "The enemy is the person who
gives it to you. The criminal is the drug. I don't think we emphasize that
enough. Who benefits?"

This is just one message in the ever-changing methods the district is
using. Dr. Arangio says he drives his staff nuts tweaking their approach to
achieving their mission. He does that, he says, because he believes any
effort must be accountable and show results. It is a community problem that
has found its way into the schools, but it is up to Dr. Arangio and his
staff to help do something about it. In doing that, they have to question
every program, every brochure, every lesson. Keep what works; change what
doesn't.

At times, any proposed solution seems ridiculous in the futile war on
drugs. We're not winning. Not even close. School officials can only do so
much, and no matter what they try, parents only get involved after a
problem has been discovered.

But when his staff members feel like they are losing the battle, Dr.
Arangio has one piece of advice for them. Put the statistics in the back of
your mind and visit an elementary school. Look at the first-graders and
kindergarten students. Notice the innocent faces. The clean slate.

"You'll see hope," he says.