DRUG-ABUSE EDUCATION MUST BE BASED ON REALITY

Stephen J. Pasierb offers excellent advice in his Aug. 27th 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 prescription OxyContin 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, D.C.