IT JUST DOESN'T WORK

Editor, Naples Daily News:

Lt. James Hansen writes to tell us that because Robert Sharp is connected
with the Drug Policy Alliance his condemnation of the D.A.R.E. program
should not be taken seriously for that reason and the fact that one
discredited reporter wasn't honest. In fact, in 1994 a study by the Justice
Department also found D.A.R.E. to be ineffective, and several subsequent
studies, equally accredited, have reached the same conclusion.

Shall we also dismiss the Justice Department study Lt. Hansen?

Every community has felt the effects of prohibited drugs, including the
increased crime rates, increased overdoses and corruption associated with
the illegal market in drugs. We have chosen to relinquish any control over
drugs by giving that authority to the most ruthless criminals among us,
those who don't check IDs, those who sell to children and those who answer
to no regulatory body.

Lt. Hansen and others like him are more interested in the message than they
are in the actual consequences of drug prohibition, and for the last
hundred years, America's children have paid the price.

D.A.R.E. America, the parent organization, has even conceded that the
evidence has shown the program to be ineffective in achieving it stated
goals and is in the process of reinventing itself.

Shall we dismiss that too, Lt. Hansen?

Jim White is a member of the Drug Policy Forum of Ohio