DRUG EDUCATION MUST BE REALITY-BASED

To the editor:

Regarding Taylor Armerding's Jan. 1 column, the importance of parental
involvement in reducing adolescent drug use cannot be overstated.
School-based extracurricular activities also have been shown to reduce
use. They keep kids busy during the hours they're most likely to get
into trouble.

In order for drug prevention efforts to 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 such as Drug Abuse Resistance Education.
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 prevention
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.