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Being a parent today is a difficult job, but so is being a kid. Children today are faced with tough decisions at increasingly younger and more vulnerable ages. The pressure on our kids to use drugs progressively increases throughout junior high and high school.
Clearly, we do need to help our children develop the skills and knowledge to make decisions and learn how to tactfully resist pressure from their peers to use drugs.
The D rug A buse R esistance E ducation (D.A.R.E.) Program is our most promising long-range solution. D.A.R.E. has helped to produce future generations of young adults who not only have no appetite for drugs, but who also have the strength of character to dissuade others from drug abuse.
The schools, law enforcement and the corporate community are but some components of the partnership needed to help D.A.R.E. achieve its promise. The other, and most important component, are the children's parents.
All of us working together can save this nation's most vital resource, our children.
Nathan Shapell
President D.A.R.E. America
Gateway Drugs (Alcohol, Tobacco & Marijuana)
Gateway drugs are those drugs people are first exposed to and experiment with. Traditional gateway drugs are alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana.
The significance of gateway drugs is that most people with a drug dependency began their cycle of addiction by experimenting with a gateway drug. While not everyone who tries alcohol, cigarettes, or marijuana becomes addicted to drugs, most addicts began their habits with one of these drugs.
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