STUDY QUESTIONS KIDS' PROGRAM TO FIGHT DRUGS

The slogan has become a cultural mantra, affixed on bumper stickers,
T-shirts and school banners: "D.A.R.E. to keep kids off drugs."

But a recent study at the University of Kentucky says the nation's
best-known drug prevention program -- attended by thousands of Broward and
Miami-Dade fifth-graders every year -- does not curb substance abuse in the
long run.

The study is the latest to raise questions about the program, which began
in Los Angeles 16 years ago amid the fervor of Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No"
campaign.

Yet some local school officials and police officers insist that D.A.R.E.
does work, pointing to other studies in Florida and around the country that
came to positive conclusions.

Lack of consensus

The debate highlights the lack of consensus about how to prevent kids from
using drugs and drinking alcohol -- both of which are on the rise among
South Florida high school students.

Taught by sheriff deputies and local police officers, D.A.R.E. consists of
a 16-week course that emphasizes good decision-making and ways to resist
peer pressure. This year, about 17,000 students in Broward and 21,000 in
Miami-Dade participated in the program, paid for by law enforcement
agencies and government grants.

D.A.R.E. stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education.

In the University of Kentucky study, researchers tracked 1,000 students,
ages 19 to 21, who attended D.A.R.E. a decade ago. The researchers
concluded that D.A.R.E. had no significant impact on students' use of
cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana and other drugs.

"We're still finding no effect," said Donald Lynam, a psychology professor
and juvenile delinquency expert who led the study, funded by the National
Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institutes of Health.

Other skeptical reviews

The Kentucky study joins the ranks of several other skeptical reviews. A
University of Maryland study conducted for the U.S. Department of Justice
two years ago put it bluntly: "D.A.R.E. does not work to reduce substance
use." School districts from Seattle to Omaha, Neb., to Boulder, Colo., have
dropped the program.

But for every negative study on D.A.R.E., supporters can point to a
positive one. Miami-Dade Police Maj. James DiBernardo noted a Florida study
that compared 356 12th-graders who participated in the program with 264
students who did not attend. The study found that the former D.A.R.E.
students were less likely to use hard-core drugs like cocaine and LSD and
showed more self-esteem and resistance to peer pressure.

The Broward Sheriff's Office also stands by the program, said Lt. John
Nesteruk.

"All the parents swear by it, and I see kids, years after the program,
still wearing their D.A.R.E. shirts," he said. "It's very difficult to
measure the outcomes of a prevention program because of differences in
opinions, how it's instructed, and the amount of community support."

School Board support

Two Broward School Board members who have children in the public schools,
Darla Carter and Stephanie Kraft, said all the feedback they've received
has been positive. Carter said just because D.A.R.E. doesn't keep all
students away from drugs doesn't mean it's not worthwhile.

Her daughter, Katie, who is going into eighth grade at Forest Glen Middle
School in Coral Springs, said: "It worked for me and my friends. But some
kids don't listen. They try drugs anyway because they think it's cool."

The popularity of the program among police, parents and kids -- along with
the fact that the School Board doesn't pay a cent for it -- make it
unlikely that the board would abandon D.A.R.E.

"I haven't seen anything better come along, and I think it particularly
helps children develop positive feelings about law enforcement," said
Carole Andrews, a board member who supervises D.A.R.E. officers from the
Broward Sheriff's Office.

School Board Chairwoman Lois Wexler would like to see the program's
messages reinforced more comprehensively in middle and high schools.
Substance abuse is only one of many issues addressed in physical education
and health classes in secondary schools.

"The ball is being dropped in the higher grades," she said.

Completion of the program typically culminates with a "graduation," in
which the kids perform skits and songs about the risks of drug use and
receive certificates and prizes. Katie Carter, who participated in the
program three years ago at Coral Park Elementary School in Coral Springs,
said: "I can't remember it that well, but it was fun."