photo via Telegraph-Forum
HER LIFE'S DREAM?

In sharp contrast to Christopher Hutsul's story below, 17 year old high school senior Carla Groves and her mom enjoyed their DARE sponsored, four day visit at the DEA's training camp.

DARE claims its program informs the students with the truth, with facts such as this:

Most teens do not realize that their first attempt at recreational drugs can lead to death.

I'm not saying that's not true, the problem is DARE preaches it as a major consequence and the reality of the young people's experience will be that most of the people they know who are taking drugs do not die - the first time or anytime thereafter. You can't fool most teenagers with half-truths.

Carla however seems convinced. She's a state level team leader of the DARE Youth Corps and travels around the state for speaking engagements. Or maybe she just likes attending the conference; it's her second year and it sounds like a non-stop prohibitionist's frolic.

Carla and her mother, Karen, stayed in the dorms at the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) training headquarters. After individual introductions and group activities, the two spent days in classroom settings observing videos of drug parties known as "raves" and learning about what effects specific drugs have on the body. In addition, they spent time with the FBI and DEA agents who enacted drug raids, explained their raid and protective equipment, demonstrated their sharp shooting skills at the shooting range and offered information to parents on supporting and communicating with teens and other parents. Nighttime activities included tours of various memorials in Washington, D.C., and a visit to the DEA museum near the Pentagon.

I'd like to remind you that DARE is funded with public money. Carla's little junket was no doubt funded out of the 3.5 million of the Ohio taxpayers' dollars allocated to the program from the state's coffers. You could restore a lot of decimated arts and physical education programs in the school systems with that kind of money, which would be a much more effective deterrent to drug abuse.

Teenagers do drugs for many reasons but one of the largest is simple boredom. I believe if the schools were able to provide more avenues for kids to excel at something, drug abuse would diminish accordingly. Given a choice I'd bet my tax dollars on it. Maybe it's time the voters demand that option.