CHOOSE REALISTIC DRUG PROGRAMS

Regarding Carl Welser's Oct. 22 column ("Don't make Grandpa a
vigilante"), the importance of parental involvement in reducing
adolescent drug use cannot be overstated. School-based
extracurricular activities also have been shown to reduce use. They
keep kids busy during the hours they're most likely to get into
trouble. In order for drug-prevention efforts to effectively reduce
harm, they must be reality-based. The most popular drug and the one
most closely associated with violent behavior is often overlooked by
parents. That drug is alcohol, and it takes far more lives each year
than all illegal drugs combined. Alcohol may be legal, but it's still
the No. 1 drug problem.

For decades, school-based drug-prevention efforts have been dominated
by sensationalist programs like Drug Abuse Resistance Education. 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
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 are inevitably exposed to drug use among their peers.

The following U.S. Government Accounting Office report confirms my
claims regarding DARE: http://www. gao.gov/new.items/d03172r.pdf

Robert Sharpe, policy analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, D.C.