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DARE CAN BACKFIRE

Regarding Ted Nugent's April 8 column touting his participation in Drug Abuse Resistance Education ( DARE ), 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's dangers 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 inevitably are exposed to illegal drugs by their peers.

The importance of parental involvement in reducing drug use cannot be overstated.  School-based extracurricular activities have also been shown to reduce drug use.  They keep kids busy during the hours they're most likely to get into trouble.  For drug education to effectively reduce harm, it has to be credible.  The most popular recreational drug and the one most closely associated with violent behavior is often overlooked.  It's our No.  1 drug problem.  That drug is alcohol, and it takes far more lives each year than all illegal drugs combined.

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC