DRUG PREVENTION EFFORTS NEED FREQUENT EVALUATION

I'm writing in response to a recent letter to the editor in support
of the DARE substance abuse prevention program. It is obvious that he
had a positive experience with the Wilbraham DARE program.

While DARE apparently worked for the writer, it is important to know
if DARE is equally beneficial for all, or even many, young people.
For earlier versions of the curriculum, evaluation results showed no
statistically meaningful impact of DARE, (see "Youth Violence: A
Report of the Surgeon General").

The current version of DARE, "Taking Charge of Your Life," is nearing
the end of a five-year evaluation in six U.S. communities. Results to
date suggest that the new DARE is an improvement over earlier
versions and may be especially useful for high-risk youth.

In his letter, the writer asks: "What else is available?" Over the
past 30 years or so, there has been a great deal of research on what
works and what doesn't in substance abuse prevention. There are now
more than 100 programs that the federal Substance Abuse and Mental
Health Services Administration has listed as model, effective or
promising. These programs have been well-implemented and
well-evaluated, meaning they have been reviewed by the National
Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices according to
rigorous standards of research.

Prevention is at its most effective when parents, communities, youth,
law enforcement and schools work together and use a variety of
communitywide and school approaches - but only when those approaches
have been tested and proven to work. It is too soon to know if the
new DARE curriculum will meet that test. Anyone who is interested in
learning more about effective prevention approaches can contact us.
Our Web site is www.westernmasshealthy communities.org.

Jeff Harness

Director

Western Massachusetts Center for Healthy Communities

Holyoke