Drug prevention programs have risks

Regarding Brian Jones’ Jan. 25 column, “Cops in schools won’t solve drug problems,” 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 behaviour 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.

The following U.S. General Accounting Office report confirms my claims regarding DARE: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03 172r.pdf.

Robert Sharpe policy analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington, D.C.