DRUG POLICY

Dear Editor,

Good intentions are no substitute for effective drug education.
Independent evaluations of Drug Abuse Resistance Education have found
the program to be either ineffective or counterproductive. 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. Drug education programs must be reality-based or
they may backfire when kids are inevitably exposed to drug use among
their peers.

One recreational drug and the one most closely associated with
violent behavior is often overlooked. 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 number one drug problem.

Sincerely,

Robert Sharpe, MPA