Pubdate: Wed, 07 Dec 2005
Source: Taber Times, The (CN AB)
Copyright: 2005 The Taber Times
Contact:  http://www.mysouthernalberta.com/ttimes/home/index.php
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2262
Author: Robert Sharpe
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

PARENTS KEY IN TURNING KIDS AWAY FROM DRUGS

EDITOR:

Your Dec. 1 editorial offered excellent advice on preventing 
adolescent drug use. The importance of parental involvement in 
reducing drug use cannot be overstated.

School-based extracurricular activities also have been shown to 
reduce 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 either 
ineffective or counterproductive. The scare tactics used 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 crystal 
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.

The following U.S. Government Accounting Office report confirms my 
claims regarding DARE: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03172r.pdf

ROBERT SHARPE, MPA

Policy Analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy

www.csdp.org

Washington, D.C.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman