DON'T RESTORE DARE FUNDS

The Foster administration has suggested cutting $3 million out of next
year's state budget for the Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or DARE, program.

Carried out locally by sheriff's deputies, the program teaches elementary
school children to resist peer pressure to try illegal drugs or alcohol.

The program has some merit. DARE lets children meet law enforcement
officers on a friendly basis, and most parents like it. The program is a
great community relations tool. Unfortunately, DARE has not been an
effective tool in reducing marijuana, alcohol and nicotine use among school
children.

A 2001 study by the U.S. surgeon general concluded that DARE provides
little or no deterrence in substance use. Citing the lack of scientific
proof of the program's effectiveness, the U.S. Department of Education also
stopped funding DARE in 2000.

Because of its popularity, communities should be given the opportunity to
continue DARE funding at the local level. Doing so would provide more local
accountability in communities that decided to keep it. The state should not
force all taxpayers to keep funding a program that has shown little
effectiveness.