GRADS DARE TO BE DRUG-FREE

Police Hope They Have 74 New Fighters In The War against Drugs.

Princess Alexandra hosted graduation ceremonies Wednesday for the 2004 Drug
Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program.

RCMP Const. Neala Dollard led the program, and says the graduates were "74
wonderful students" in three Grade 6 classes.

The program covers ways to say no, consequences of drug use and ways to
avoid violence. It is an interactive program that includes lots of skits
and role-playing, some of which were demonstrated for parents and teachers
on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately," said Dollard, "we don't have to look very far to see the
effects of drug abuse in our community."

Three students read essays they had written about their reasons for staying
drug-free. Students from another class read poems, and the third class
performed skits.

MLA Paul Delorey said students will see increased peer pressure to do drugs
as they get older, and the DARE training should help them.

MLA Jane Groenewegen commended the students for "putting part of
yourselves, your hearts, into the program."

She quoted a line from one of the essays: "What's so good about drugs anyway?"

"That's a good question to ask yourselves," Groenewegen told the Grade 6
class at Wednesday's assembly.

The DARE program is a partnership of the community and the RCMP , sponsored
in part by NWT Power Corporation.