DARE CAN BACKFIRE

Regarding Ted Nugent's April 8 column touting his participation in
Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE), good intentions are no
substitute for effective drug education. Independent evaluations of
DARE 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's dangers
may 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 inevitably are exposed to illegal drugs by their peers.

The importance of parental involvement in reducing drug use cannot be
overstated. School-based extracurricular activities have also been
shown to reduce drug use. They keep kids busy during the hours they're
most likely to get into trouble. For drug education to effectively
reduce harm, it has to be credible. The most popular recreational
drug and the one most closely associated with violent behavior is
often overlooked. It's our No. 1 drug problem. That drug is alcohol,
and it takes far more lives each year than all illegal drugs combined.

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC