DARE'S EFFECT ON DRUG ABUSE OPEN TO QUESTION

Your Dec. 26 article "Effort foils drugs, say kids, cops who DARE" was
little more than a propaganda piece for the program. The effectiveness of
the $700 million taxpayer-fund ed program is probably not best determined
by small children or by policemen who depend on DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance
Education) for their livelihoods.

You let Memphis Police Director Walter Crews get away with an accusation
that studies that reveal DARE's failure were conducted by drug policy
reform organizations. The most well-publicized study on this subject was
conducted by the U. S. Department of Justice. Although it showed that DARE
increased self-esteem and improved attitudes toward police, it found that
DARE has no measurable effect on drug abuse.

Other people and groups that speak out against DARE include the Surgeon
General of the United States, the National Academy of Sciences, the mayor
of Salt Lake City and, most important, the head of DARE's scientific
advisory panel, Harold Kleber.

DARE is not the godsend police attempt to portray; it is more accurately a
publicly funded disaster. It is Crews who is addicted - to taxpayer money.

John McLean, Memphis