DARE TO REVIEW PROGRAM

Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson is getting an earful about his plans to
review the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program.

Truth is, there's no harm at taking a second look at a program offered in
Utah schools since 1987. Since that time, this newspaper has reported a
number of studies on the effectiveness of DARE. At best, the research is
mixed.

This is not to suggest that youth don't need drug education, including the
kind that teaches them refusal skills. And there is plenty of anecdotal
evidence, at least, to suggest that engaging school children in positive
contact with police officers reaps benefits that cannot be measured by
research. Yet, DARE may not the be only means to achieving these ends.

DARE classes, taught by uniformed police officers, warn about the dangers of
drug use. The Salt Lake Police Department spends about $289,000 a year to
fund four DARE officers, their cars and equipment. Anderson is studying
whether the human capital would be better spent elsewhere in the police
department.

It's a mayor's prerogative to review existing programs and make policy
recommendations. Just because a program has in been in place for a number of
years, it isn't immune from scrutiny and evaluation. Taxpayers should get
the best bang for the buck.

While reviewing the DARE program may be a controversial choice, recent
research suggest it deserves a second look. In one study, two sociology
professors at the University of Indiana at Kokomo compared two groups of
high school seniors — those who had taken DARE classes in elementary school
and those who had not. The level of drug use was the same, with one
exception. Marijuana use among DARE graduates was actually higher than among
non-DARE graduates.

Yet a handful of other studies report positive outcomes. Among these is a
recent Gallup poll that showed 93 percent of students who had participated
in the DARE program reported they'd never tried marijuana, cocaine, heroin,
crack or inhalants.

The emotion surrounding the DARE debate is understandable, but no
taxpayer-funded program should be extended year to year without proper
evaluation. While surveys of schoolchildren suggest the program is popular
and the information is valuable, there are other many programs that teach
refusal skills and drug education.

As Anderson puts it, "The bottom line question is 'Does it work?'"

If the answer to that question is no, the mayor, in cooperation with the
Salt Lake City School District, needs to consider some alternatives.