TIME TO GET REAL ON DRUG WAR

A 10-year-old child asks an excellent question: "If drugs are bad and
kill people, why do we still have drugs?" ("Students DARE To Think,"
July 13) It is the lies told by anti-drug programs such as DARE that
cause children to question the warnings of parents and teachers.

When I was a kid, I was told by my teachers that marijuana was likely
to kill you the first time you smoke it.

As I grew older, I learned that marijuana has never once caused a
death! This caused me to question everything I was ever told about drug
use.

Until we get real and start telling our kids the truth, programs such
as DARE will continue to have little effect on reducing teenage drug
use.

ADAM WIGGINS, Pasadena