Pubdate: Mon, 12 Jul 1999
Date: 07/12/1999
Source: Tribune, The  (CA)
Author: August Salemi

Atascadero came very close to bidding good riddance to the D.A.R.E.
program. The budget cuts of the Atascadero Unified School District
nearly resulted in the canceling of D.A.R.E.

Our police chief, however, in shameless complicity with his fast-
talking henchmen from several nearby communities, bam-boozled the
gullible locals and convinced them to continue funding this lucrative
cash cow.

This obscenely expensive program has been a dangerous, grossly
ineffective, money-grubbing scam since its inception. D.A.R.E. has
existed at the expense of our children and our pocketbooks for the
primary purpose of brainwashing young children and turning them into
obedient little Nazi-like informants.

It is our great misfortune that Atascadero is now unable to join
hundreds of other wise communities throughout the nation who have
booted D.A.R.E. Let us all hope that the travesty of D.A.R.E. upon our
children and our freedom rapidly becomes only a distant memory in our
nation's history.

August Salemi,
Atascadero