D.A.R.E. PROGRAM

I am writing in response to your article about the "Council unveils
cuts to budget" on the June 2 front page. I feel like you are
misrepresenting the facts about Emily Naeole-Beason's budget cut
request. The D.A.R.E. program is not an educational program. It is a
propaganda program aimed at young schoolchildren. The police are
spreading misinformation and what happens is once the children learn
that the police lie about drugs, they cannot trust them about other
issues.

The D.A.R.E. program has been cited as being ineffective by the U.S.
Department of Education, in addition to the U.S. Surgeon General and
the U.S. General Accountability Office. The DOE has banned federal
funding of the D.A.R.E. program in school. I feel you need to print a
correction immediately stating the truth about the D.A.R.E. program.
And I, for one, am personally thankful to Emily for standing up to end
this wasteful use of county funds. The police should be here to
protect and serve us, not lobby for the perpetuation of the "Drug War."

Sara Steiner

Pahoa