GOOD INTENTIONS ARE NO SUBSTITUTION

Editor:

Re: Damon Faulkner's Exploring the popularity of drugs and alcohol,
Observer, Feb. 25.

The importance of parental involvement in reducing adolescent drug use
cannot be overstated. School-based extracurricular activities also
have been shown to reduce drug 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 number one 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.

DARE's scare tactics 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 methamphetamine 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, MPA

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington