ANTI-DRUG PROGRAM IS 'ONLY A PIECE OF THE PUZZLE'

Working parents are especially vulnerable to criticism when children
misbehave. Any children. The rationale is that if mothers would just stay
home, America's children would not join gangs, use drugs, purchase guns or
shoot other children.

In 1997 there were 13.9 million current users of any illicit drug in the
total household population ages 12 and older. Some of those drug users were
stay-at-home parents, and statistics support that children learn their
behavior from the people who are influential in their lives.

Drug use among 12- to 17-year-olds actually declined slightly in 1998.
Still, every day more than 6,000 people ages 18 or younger try their first
cigarette and more than 3,000 become daily smokers. Nicotine is a drug and
smoking affects youth's attitude about marijuana use.

Illegal drugs cost our society approximately $110 billion each year. More
than 60 percent of the adult males arrested in 20 major cities tested
positive for drugs.

America is fighting back with an enhanced National Drug Control Strategy.
According to D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) what is needed to
prevent drug use is a multi-disciplinary, multi-media approach.

To combat peer pressure, D.A.R.E. has created a series of public service
announcements that are used as part of a new, ongoing media campaign to
provide positive role models who have achieved their dreams by staying
drug-free.

Parents, working or not, can provide the most effective role models. They
must take the time to talk with their children about drugs, school, and the
use of tobacco. It's never too early to start. And, too, parents should
practice what they preach. Those who tell their children not to use drugs or
smoke, while holding a martini and a cigarette, do not provide effective
role models.

D.A.R.E. claims to have conducted numerous studies that prove its approach
is making a difference in the lives of young people around the country.

Not all researchers agree. While Project D.A.R.E. may be one of the most
popular drug education programs in the country, one new study finds the
program has no long-term effect on drug use. Psychologist Donald Lynam,
Ph.D., and other researchers at the University of Kentucky tracked more than
1,000 Midwestern students who participated in Project D.A.R.E. while in the
sixth grade. These students were again evaluated at age 20, 10 years after
receiving the drug prevention education. Although the D.A.R.E. intervention
produced a few initial improvements in the students' attitude toward drug
use, researchers found these changes did not persist over time.

Lynam emphasizes this doesn't mean that nothing should be done to prevent
drug use among young people. "Some youth will use drugs and this will likely
affect their lives in negative ways. We should try to do something for these
youth, but D.A.R.E. is probably not the only thing to do," said Lynam.

If it's not effective, why does D.A.R.E. remain so popular with parents and
school personnel?

"First, teaching children to refrain from drug use is a widely accepted
approach with which few individuals will argue," Lynam said. "Similar to
other such interventions, such as the 'good touch/bad touch' programs to
prevent sexual abuse, these 'feel-good' programs are ones that everyone can
support, and critical examination of their effectiveness may not be
perceived as necessary."

Lynam points out that, "The most damaging aspect of utilizing an ineffective
approach is that parents and teachers get comfortable with the idea that
something is being done about our drug problems and that leads them into
complacency."

Dan Frazell, president of the National Drug Organization, confirms that,
"D.A.R.E. is only a piece of the puzzle. But an effective piece."

The 1997 Minnesota Institute of Public Health study concluded that 98
percent of those surveyed said D.A.R.E. had fostered a better relationship
with law enforcement. Ninety-six percent said D.A.R.E. was an important part
of the school's overall drug program and 88 percent favored extending the
program to junior and senior high school levels.

Researcher Susan Ennett of the Center for Social Research and Policy
Analysis in Raleigh, N.C., found that the more interactive a program is, the
more effect it appears to have.

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

Lynam says he doesn't advocate getting rid of D.A.R.E. "If I had to choose
between using nothing or using D.A.R.E, I'd say let's use it ... but start
working on developing more effective drug prevention programs."