Pubdate: Tue, 20 Dec 2011
Source: Summit Daily News (CO)
Copyright: 2011 Summit Daily News
Contact: http://apps.summitdaily.com/forms/letter/index.php
Website: http://www.summitdaily.com/home.php
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/587
Author: Robert Sharpe

D.A.R.E.'S SCARE TACTICS THE WRONG MESSAGE

The importance of parental involvement in reducing adolescent drug 
use cannot be overstated. School-based extracurricular activities 
also have been shown to reduce drug 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 
ineffective or counterproductive. DARE's scare tactics 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 
methamphetamine 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.

Robert Sharpe, MPA, Policy Analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy, Arlington, Va.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart