When it comes to holding up the walls of U.S. cannabis prohibition, the government’s D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program has probably done more than just about any other group to provide a good foundation; yet it seems that foundation is crumbling, which means the wall can’t be far behind. D.A.R.E. has removed cannabis from its list of “gateway drugs.”
Tobacco and alcohol remain on the list, but with only two entries can it even be called a list anymore? And beyond that, is there really anything resembling a gateway when it comes to substances? Doesn’t the choice for each person come down to availability of the substance combined with the person’s own moral values and their evaluation of the dangers of the substance as they know them to be?
To put it another way, it we could eliminate alcohol and tobacco from the earth tomorrow, would people stop doing all other drugs?
In any case, marijuana being removed from the list is a huge victory in the culture war over the plant. Generations of U.S. school children have been pummeled with the lies about cannabis, courtesy of the D.A.R.E. program (including myself, D.A.R.E. class of ’91). The “gateway drug” theory has been a huge tool in the propaganda arsenal of the government for many years.
Now the D.A.R.E. program itself has given up that tool. A new era is dawning, one that will bring an end to menace of cannabis prohibition.
