REFORM DRUG EDUCATION

Your Feb. 23 editorial ("Parents vital in drug lessons," p. 6) was right on
target. For decades, school-based drug prevention efforts have been
dominated by sensationalist programs like D.A.R.E. Good intentions are no
substitute for effective drug education. Independent evaluations of
D.A.R.E. have found the program to be either ineffective or
counterproductive. The scare tactics used do more harm than good. Students
who realize they've been lied to about marijuana often 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.

Students who want to help end the drug war should contact Students for
Sensible Drug Policy at www.ssdp.org.

Robert Sharpe, MPA Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy