Pubdate: Wed, 04 Dec 2002
Source: Tri-Town Transcript (MA)
Copyright: 2002, Tri-Town Transcript
Contact: http://www.hiasys.com/contactus/contactus.html
Website: http://www.townonline.com/boxford/news.html
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2643
Author: Tom Angell
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n2165/a09.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)

RHODE ISLAND READER SPEAKS OUT ABOUT DARE

To the editor:

The goals of the D.A.R.E. program are admirable - nobody wants our youth 
doing drugs. However, good intentions are no substitute for real drug 
education.

The D.A.R.E. program uses scare tactics to influence children not to try drugs.

Some students who realize that they've been lied to by their D.A.R.E. 
officers about marijuana often make the mistake of assuming that harder 
drugs like cocaine and heroin are relatively harmless as well.

If we truly want to keep our kids safe, we must provide them with honest, 
accurate and reality-based drug education. Programs like D.A.R.E. that 
intend to scare our children out of using drugs will do nothing but cause 
more harm than they could ever prevent.

Thomas Angell

President, University of Rhode Island Students for Sensible Drug Policy

Warwick, R.I.
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MAP posted-by: Tom