A FORUM FOR COMMUNITY ISSUES : Youth / OPINION ON ANTI-DRUG PROGRAMS

JENNIFER PONTIUS, 17. She is a senior and student body president of Venice High School, a foreign-language magnet school.

The only program we have at my school, or at any of the schools I’ve ever gone to, has been DARE and I think that has been helpful in educating people about what can occur when you use drugs. It teaches them how to say no to people that try to get them to take drugs.

I think it’s had an impact on everybody that’s been through the class. I think that the use of the police officer coming into your class and really telling you about drugs and about what can happen if you use drugs, and if you get caught using drugs--I think that’s really deterred people. And people who have used them have kind of reacted like, “Oh, I didn’t know that could happen to me.”

My opinion is that drug use among high school students is going down. They realize that, although it’s “fun” to get high--look what’s going to happen to me if I do.