STUDY QUESTIONS EFFECTIVENESS OF DARE

While DARE may be the most widely used drug-education program in America, a
new study suggests that in the long run the program does little to stop
teens from using drugs or alcohol.

The study, conducted by University of Kentucky researchers, found that
after initial improvements in students' attitudes toward drug use, the
positive effects did not last. But, Drug Abuse Resistance Education
officials call the study outdated and say the program offers the most
effective curriculum to help students say "No."

The study's results were published in the August issue of the American
Psychological Association's Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
The study, by psychologist Donald R. Lynam and several others, tracked over
1,000 Midwestern students who participated in the program in the sixth grade.

The students were re-evaluated at age 20 by researchers 10 years after
receiving the anti-drug education.

Salt Lake City police Sgt. Ken Hansen, who oversees the DARE program for
his department, concedes it is difficult to quantify the results of a
prevention program. But he still sees many benefits.

"The DARE officers really can't go anywhere where they are not recognized
by a former student," Hansen said. "The bond developed between officers and
students is one of the most valuable results of the program."

He says if you want the lessons to stick with students, police need to
reinforce the anti-drug message as the student matures.

"We have recently started teaching in the junior highs and are planning to
start a program in high school," he said. "We've got to give kids the
information and hope they will use it."

Lynam agrees.

He just doesn't believe DARE is an effective approach.

"Some youth will use drugs and this will likely affect their lives in
negative ways," Lynam is quoted in the study as saying. "We should try to
do something for these youth, but DARE is probably not the thing to do."

In DARE's defense, Hansen pointed to a 1997 survey which showed that Cedar
City students "overwhelmingly support the teaching of DARE in all
classrooms everywhere."

In that survey, 93 percent of students gave positive comments when asked
about the 17-week course. The Iron County School District was chosen for
the survey because DARE is taught to students in the fifth, seventh and
10th grades. That study was paid for by DARE officials.

DARE officials also point to several other positive studies in
Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas.

But there is a growing list of research critical of the program -- which is
taught in an estimated 80 percent of U.S. classrooms.

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, suggesting that DARE had not made an
impact in their lives, except in one dubious way. Marijuana use among DARE
graduates was actually higher than non-DARE students.

Other studies of DARE, including one sponsored by the Justice Department,
also have suggested that DARE lacks effectiveness.

DARE advocates say that many of the unfavorable studies are simply sales
tools for competing anti-drug education programs.

"A lot of anti-DARE stuff comes from people that are for the legalization
of drugs or competing groups," Hansen said. "The criticisms are not really
objective."

One reason DARE might not be effective, Lynam said, is that it focuses on
peer pressure and drug use. Many teens, however, are motivated by other
factors such as thrill-seeking or simple curiosity, he said.

Also, students typically do not try drugs in the sixth grade, but are more
likely to try in high school, Lynam said.

"It's surprising how widespread DARE is, given the lack of hard data
suggesting it is effective," Lynam said.

But DARE officials called the University of Kentucky study "misleading" and
"unworthy of the scientific community."

It is not a "study of the DARE curriculum offered to elementary
schoolchildren today," according to the organization's Web site. "In fact,
it is an evaluation of a version used 12 years ago that has been revised,
improved and modified several times since 1987."

In any case, Lynam says that drug education shouldn't be a
one-size-fits-all approach.

"It may be unrealistic to expect any universal program to be effective," he
said. "Not all kids are at risk; maybe we can do better with more intensive
and targeted interventions."