DRUG EDUCATION MUST BE ROOTED IN REALITY

To the editor:

Regarding Jim Munn's column (Times, March 1), 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 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.

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 heroin 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.