DARE SUPPORT IN VALLEY WANES

Phoenix Police Officer Mike Skvarek talks to Foothills Elementary
student Theron Pierce, 11.

An anti-drug program taught in 80 percent of the nation's schools is
losing favor in the Valley amid questions about its long-term impact.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is axing its Drug Abuse
Resistance Education program, known as DARE, after a 13-year run.

"The public loves the DARE program," said Sheriff Joe Arpaio. "But
it's not working."

While the DARE program has staunch supporters in law enforcement and
education circles, a tight budget year and questions about its
effectiveness has some officials in the Valley and across the nation
starting to "just say no."

Budget woes may force the Phoenix Police Department to cut its DARE
program in half. The proposal would reduce the number of officers who
teach the program from 13 to seven and save an estimated $600,000 over
a 15-month period.

"I think if you cut DARE, it's going to create terrible problems,"
said Phoenix police Officer Mike Skvarek, who teaches more than 1,000
elementary school children each year about drug dangers.

Mesa and Tempe ended their DARE programs a few years ago, joining
cities like Seattle and Austin that have dropped the prevention program.

Chandler and Gilbert continue to teach it.

"It's the No. 1 substance abuse program in the world," said Chandler
police Sgt. Jim Petersen. "Our guys do the best they can. They really
believe in what they are doing."

DARE also has strong support in the West Valley. Glendale and Peoria
have no plans to scale back. Glendale pays more than $320,000 each
year in salaries and supplies.

Created by Los Angeles educators and police in 1983, DARE debuted in
Arizona in 1986. More than 200 law enforcement officers in the state
are certified to teach the classes, which aim to give students the
skills to make healthy decisions and resist substance abuse.

It first came under fire in the 1990s when a series of studies found
it had little impact on students' decision-making years after they had
completed the program. A 2001 auditor general report found its impact
"virtually non-existent over the long-term."

But police and the program's founders deny those claims. "It's not a
program where you're going to see effects immediately, but you see
them down the road," said Phoenix police Sgt. James Collins, a DARE
supervisor and 23-year police veteran. "Somewhere along the line, it's
going to kick in and they're going to remember some of the things we
taught them."

Arpaio said he decided to abandon DARE in favor a new program created
by his office, dubbed S.T.A.R.S. The new Sheriff Teaches Abuse
Resistance to Students program will be launched Jan. 28.

Arpaio said his main criticism of DARE was that the curriculum was the
same nationwide, while the needs of each community are different. For
example, Ecstasy, though popular among Arizona teens, is not part of
the curriculum, he said.

"The DARE program is very, very restrictive," said Arpaio, a former
regional director of the Drug Enforcement Administration. "You have to
follow every word of the program, down to the period."

But Collins said officers may add to the curriculum to teach students
about new drugs not included in the textbooks. The program, he argued,
does more than just teach students valuable skills; it gives them an
opportunity meet with officers.

"The kids have an opportunity to interact with a police officer and
see the other side, not what we're depicted like on TV or in the
media," he said.

Brian Green, 11, said he hopes DARE isn't cut. The Foothills
Elementary School sixth-grader said DARE has taught him valuable
lessons. "Sometimes you don't know how to talk to people, how to say
no," he said.

"We don't expect to save every child, but if you get one or two or
three, it starts to snowball," Collins said. "I truly believe this
makes a difference."