DARE PROGRAM HAS ITS FLAWS

Editor: As a retired police officer, my area of expertise is law
enforcement. I am sure that RCMP Cpl. Tomalty is also well-versed in his
chosen career.

DARE has been shown over and over again to have no meaningful influence on
whether a teenager uses drugs, legal or illegal. DARE does not give
students the information they need to make a wise choice not to do drugs,
rather the simplistic - drugs are bad, don't do drugs. DARE lumps cannabis
in with heroin as deadly substances.

Soon after graduation, students figure out that wasn't exactly the truth.
And from there, they often reject the whole package.

Health professionals should be brought in to teach kids about drugs, not
officers trained to detect and arrest law breakers. Police officer -
citizen contact is better done by sponsoring athletic events, pitting
officers and students. That is what we did in Michigan.

Howard J. Wooldridge,

Dallas, Texas