GET REAL WITH PROGRAMS

Re: "Parents, Be Aware -- Drug use more common than you may
realize," Wednesday Editorials.

Parental involvement in reducing adolescent drug use cannot be
overstated, but parents often overlook the most popular drug and the
one most closely associated with violent behavior. That drug, alcohol,
takes far more lives each year than all illegal drugs combined.

For decades, school-based drug prevention efforts have been dominated
by sensationalist programs like Drug Abuse Resistance Education.
Independent evaluations have found DARE to be ineffective or
counterproductive. Drug education programs must be reality-based or
they may backfire when kids are inevitably exposed to drug use among
peers.

Robert Sharpe, policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy,
Washington