Pubdate: Fri, 26 Apr 2002
Source: Cape Cod Times (MA)
Copyright: 2002 Cape Cod Times
Contact:  http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/72
Author: Robert Sharpe
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n774/a09.html

DARE'S SCARE TACTICS DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD

As noted in your thoughtful April 21 editorial, the Drug Abuse 
Resistance Education program "has come in for increasing criticism in 
recent years, and may have run its course as a social movement."

DARE's good intentions are no substitute for effective drug 
education. Every independent, methodologically sound evaluation of 
DARE has found the program either ineffective or counterproductive. 
The scare tactics used do more harm than good. Students who realize 
they are being lied to about marijuana often make the mistake of 
assuming harder drugs are relatively harmless as well - 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.

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 by keeping kids busy during 
the hours they're most prone to getting into trouble.

The most popular recreational drug, the one most often associated 
with violent behavior, is often overlooked in drug education. That 
drug is alcohol, and it takes far more lives every year than all 
illegal drugs combined. Alcohol may be legal, but it's still the No. 
1 drug problem.

Robert Sharpe Program officer, Drug Policy Alliance Washington, D.C.
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