Source: The StarLedger. May The StarLedger Reader Forum letters: 200 words max 1 Star Ledger Plaza Speaking Up columns: 500 words max Newark, NJ 071021200 DARE's success by Carol C. Bodofsky Your April 28 article "Doubt cast on DARE program" highlighted a government study which found that the program has not reduced drug use among the young. My daughter and her friends have participated in the program in Edison and have benefited in many ways. They have an awareness of the dangers of drugs and have gained greater selfesteem, the ability to resist peer pressure, skill in thinking for themselves and trust in police. Without this program, we might very well see a skyrocketing number of teenage drug users. Confiscating drugs and incarcerating offenders will not make the drug problem go away. The only way to do that is to teach our children to believe in themselves and empower them to face the world and its problems. I have seen the effects of the DARE program close up. Based on a national average, its results may not be significant. On a onetoone basis, it is working. And that is the way we need to face the problem of drug abuse one to one, one step at a time! Carol C. Bodofsky, Edison