LETTERS POUR IN OVER DARE

(Editor's note: The controversy surrounding the DARE anti-drug program in
area schools has spilled beyond the northwest. Thanks to our on-line
edition, a flood of comment has arrived.)

DARE IS HARMFUL

Dear Sir:

I enjoyed the letters by Anne-Marie Stiff and Gail Murray, June 12, 2002.
Apparently, the behaviour of a DARE representative at their meeting was
quite disturbing.I agree wholeheartedly with their assessments.

It is dishonest for authorities to imply that parents and kids refuse to
participate in DARE in order to hide illicit drug use. In the cold war, we
had McCarthy. Now, we have a new non-war, and a new regime of nutty
right-wingers in control here in the States. Again, you're either with or
against. It's a dishonestly simplistic premise, and I see it used here by
the RCMP.

There are plenty of reasonable people that refuse to have anything to do
with dangerous drugs, yet still urge reform of drug policies. We believe
the drug war is far more harmful than drug use itself. That goes for DARE,
too. There has never been an objective study that found any significant
positive effects on graduates.

Danny Terwey, Pacifica, California

THE DARE 'MYTH'

Dear Sir:

While I agree with letter writer Crystal Hamar (June 19, 2002), that most
parents are not qualified to educate their children about drugs and
alcohol, several studies have found that the DARE program she advocates
does more harm than good. The Vancouver Island DARE website,
http://www.rcmp.ark.com/aware.htm, contains:

"Myth - Marijuana is quite harmless, just like smoking a regular cigarette.
Fact - Not true. Marijuana is the most underestimated, dangerous street
drug used today. Today's marijuana is up to 1,000 per cent more potent than
it was in 1960's and early '70s. In those days, the (THC)
Tetrahydrocannabinol levels were 1-3 per cent. Now they can be as high as
40 per cent."

Beyond the fact that the DARE 'myth' implies that 'regular' cigarettes are
"quite harmless", there is no such thing as 40 per cent THC cannabis. The
most recent figures from the RCMP put the average at 7 per cent THC.
Extremely potent forms, such as hashish, have been used for millennia.
Further, most of the harm from cannabis is caused by the psychoactively
inert by-products of combustion. Thus, potent cannabis is less harmful than
weak cannabis.

As a parent of three, I believe that drug education should be integrated
into the curriculum. It should be taught in biology, sociology, history and
physical education classes by qualified instructors, not by police officers.

Matthew M. Elrod, Victoria, B.C.

CHILDREN EXPOSED

Dear Sir:

After my grandchildren came home from school, demonstrating how to "snort
cocaine", I realized the school had exposed our overprotected kids to
dangers that we chosen to shield them from.

Living in the woods and being with our children all the time, except when
exposing them to public schooling, makes one believe in home-teaching after
this form of education has young children walking around with straws stuck
up their noses looking for any powder to snort.

Suz Fox, Kalispell, Montana

KNOWLEDGE NEEDED

Dear Sir:

There isn't a shred of evidence that DARE works to keep kids off drugs.
Some studies show that, by the senior year in high school, 95 percent of
students state that DARE has no credibility at all. Other research shows
that DARE students may be even more likely to use drugs than their peers
who have not had DARE.

Why might this be true? Part of it is due to DARE's poor credibility. The
rest is probably due to the second fact, below. Historically speaking, the
biggest single cause of drug epidemics among children is ill-considered
anti-drug campaigns. As one major study of the subject said, "the warning
functions as a lure." Hysterical anti-drug campaigns, such as DARE,
actually provide free advertising for drug sellers and pique the student's
curiosity.

Clifford A. Schaffer,

Director, DRCNet Online Library of Drug Policy,

Canyon Country, California

PARENTS MUST BE IN CHARGE

Dear Sir:

Re: "Union slams drug education plan," June 12, 2002. Parents should always
be in control as far as curriculum changes in our schools go and we should
amend the School Act to make that principle crystal clear. No union
agreement should be permitted to undermine that right, either.

In any event, the union is using the wrong argument. Teachers should be
attempting to persuade parents that DARE presented by police officers does
not dissuade kids from taking drugs later in life. That's the bottom line
isn't it? In truth, the program has been found to be ineffectual, but if
the parents want it, the schools should accommodate them.

Alan Randell,

Victoria, B.C.