Pubdate: Wed, 21 Aug 2002
Source: Naples Daily News (FL)
Copyright: 2002 Naples Daily News.
Contact:  http://www.naplesnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/284
Author: Jim White
Note: Jim White is a member of the Drug Policy Forum of Ohio
Ref: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1530/a02.html

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
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth