ANTI-DRUG MESSAGE HAS WORKED FOR DECADES

To the Editor:

My oldest daughter in middle school came home one day and asked me about
drugs. I knew absolutely nothing, since it was not in my generation. The
same day, I received a notice from the Baldwinsville School District of a
meeting with the sheriff's department at the high school regarding drugs. I
attended, and I commend the sheriffs on the knowledgeable facts they gave
parents.

The next day happened to be a "snow day," and I sat my daughter down at the
breakfast table. We sat there for two to three hours, and I repeated what I
had learned the evening before. Because of this meeting, my three children
have remained drug-free. I now have a grandson who is 10 years old. When we
are driving together, he always asks me more and more about drugs. The same
information is being transmitted to him some 25 years later.

The sheriff needs more officers out on the streets. However, the most
important issue here is keeping children off drugs, and the sheriff's
department is certainly doing this. Please use my tax dollars (which are
going up this year) to keep the DARE program funded.

Betty Pendock

Syracuse