DARE NOT

As a Federally Licensed Medical Marijuana User who is also married to
one, I consider DARE nothing less than a government-sponsored hate-crime.

Sending military cops in to teach kids about drugs is like sending in
a priest to teach them about sex: "Just don't, or you will be in trouble."

Also, the fact that taxpayers' dollars are used for this fear and
fealty campaign is sick and reprehensible in the extreme. It should
be illegal to go into schools and deliberately frighten and mislead
kids, but no, we use taxpayers' dollars and send cops in to do it! It
isn't just irresponsible, it is obscene!

Indoctrinations, certificates, slogans, promises and vows - all of it
has proven to be of little help and at least some harm. Don't believe
me? Since DARE first started in the 1980s, drug use among Canadian
teens has quadrupled!

DARE has repeatedly proven to be outrageously counterproductive.
Maybe because it exaggerates the so-called "dangers" of marijuana,
while ignoring - or even decrying - its many proven medical
applications. When kids are lied to about one thing, they are less
likely to believe you when you actually do tell the truth about drugs
like meth and heroin.

And who can blame them? We live in a culture that glamourizes sex,
fun, danger, thrills, law-scoffing, risk-taking, rule-breaking,
power, wealth-acquisition and authority-resisting. We advertise
booze, fast cars, fast food, violent movies and video games and drugs
of all kinds right on TV! Then we tell kids that "drugs are
bad." Does anyone still believe that kids don't notice this wild
hypocrisy? A ruse by any other name... ?

There is also a misconception in our society that suggests that only
drug abstinence is to be encouraged and admired. Humans have used
drugs longer than we have been using language, and drug use is
implicated in the creation of all of the world's major religions. We
should not be trying to "prevent" drug use, we should be trying to
maximize the benefits while mitigating the dangers, and bamboozling
kids with fear-mongering, misinformation, and balderdash is not going to help.

Telling kids to "never" use certain drugs is like telling them to
never see a certain genre of movie, never go to an amusement park or
exotic country, or never do anything at all that may be both risky
and fun. It teaches them to be afraid of new things, instead of
curious, and as history has shown, fortune favours the adventurous.
Sensible, moderate, well-informed drug use is no more harmful,
dangerous, or immoral than any one of dozens of other activities
humans participate in every day. And if you think "drugs" have
nothing good to offer society, then throw away every CD you own.

For those keen on teaching kids about drugs without all the
hyperbole, spin, sloganeering, and bald-faced lies of the standard
"education" programs, I recommend the Canadian Students For Sensible
Drug Policy website at www.cssdp.org , the Educators For Sensible
Drug Policy website at www.efsdp.org , or the Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition website at www.leap.cc .

Russell Barth,

Nepean, Ontario