Pubdate: Sat, 10 Mar 2001 Source: Hendersonville Times-News (NC) Copyright: 2001 Hendersonville Newspaper Corporation Contact: 828-692-2319 Address: P.O. Box 490, Hendersonville, NC 28793 Website: http://www.hendersonvillenews.com/ Author: Stephen Black Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.) THE REAL WAY TO FIGHT DRUGS Just say no to drugs." I see where the DARE program is considered a failure by many. I don't know if we can judge the program without taking in more factors. The DARE program was never meant to be a panacea for all human trouble and pain. Any drug program can only work in conjunction with a drug-free home life. I don't know how many times I've seen a car sporting a DARE bumper sticker, and the driver is smoking a cigarette. The parents moan, "the gosh darn kids just won't listen when I tell them about drugs." Do you have a DARE bumper sticker on your car? Do you use tobacco? Then you yourself are a drug addict and need help. Do you drink alcohol? Do you have a DARE bumper sticker? Think about it. Do you take legal medication for your "nerves"? Do you have a DARE bumper sticker? Again, think about it. * * * I recently saw a tobacco delivery truck with a bumper sticker that said, "Just say no to drugs!" That tobacco service company, you see, was using the bumper sticker to pretend they were "against drugs." And all the while, they were every smoker's number one drug connection. * * * "Do as I say, not as I do," doesn't work. It never will. Until we as a drug-addicted nation admit to our dependency on legal drugs, we will constantly be sending the wrong message to our young people. And that message is abysmal hypocrisy. Young people are young, not stupid. They can smell "bull" faster than grown-ups with their lifelong rationales. Bumper stickers can be funny. When they try to proclaim "truths," however, they simply come across as slick and meaningless. They are as wrong in the long run as five minutes of cheap advice. Drug programs are well-intentioned and administered by good people. These programs will only work, however, if they face a few unpleasant facts. Are we willing as a nation to admit that America, for all its good, can be bad at times? Can we admit that for many, life isn't a bowl of cherries and Norman Rockwell moments? Can we admit (do we even have the courage to learn) that for some young people in this grand old U.S. of A., life is just another day in hell? Just another day of loneliness and pain. And I don't mean just "street" youth, either. Some of the loneliest, pained souls I've ever known are wealthy and elite young people. One of the most serious challenges facing America today is the curing and abolishment of social ills that cause people to turn to drugs in the first place. Until we do heartfelt battle with those ills, all the sermons, bumper stickers and drug programs will be nothing more than a mockery of what should be done. Until we begin working with life's casualties in an honest, straightforward way, we shall be ignored. It is past time to stop offering glib, inane slogans ("Just say no to drugs") and expecting troubled souls to turn from drugs and be ever so grateful. If any drug program is ever going to work, we must start dealing with where people are coming from, not where we want them to be. Most importantly, we must all make sure we do not send our youth a hypocritical message. For if we do, we will surely lose our children. And we will deserve it. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk