'GOLD STANDARD' OF DRUG EDUCATION IS A LITTLE TARNISHED

Some Call D.A.R.E. Inflexible Or Ineffective

WASHINGTON - Before police in Lexington, Mass., killed the D.A.R.E. drug
prevention program for the Boston suburb's middle and high schools last
year, they asked the organization's national office about localizing the
curriculum with ideas from the PTA, area educators and their own officers.
Their overture was hastily rebuffed.

"They told us, 'You either teach our lesson plan and our curriculum or risk
being decertified,'" said police Lt. Steve Corr. "The officers came to me
and said they weren't happy with the curriculum and really didn't want to
teach it."

Although teen drug use remains much higher than it was at its low in 1991
and 1992, Lexington isn't alone in abandoning the nation's most popular
anti-drug program for youth, which operates in 49 countries and all 50 states.

Police departments in Seattle, Omaha, Neb., Lawrence and Lexington, Mass.,
and other cities also have dropped the program, either because they lack the
necessary personnel or because of ongoing debate about whether D.A.R.E. -
Drug Abuse Resistance Education - is effective in curbing youthful drug use.

In the latest study, researchers at the University of Kentucky compared
cigarette, marijuana and alcohol use among 20-year-olds who had taken the
17-week D.A.R.E. course in elementary school to that of young people who had
traditional drug education in health classes. The study, published in the
August issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, found
both groups used drugs at about the same rate.

Glen Levant, the president and founding director of D.A.R.E. America, the
nonprofit organization that manages the program, called the Kentucky report
"academic fraud" because the students surveyed had taken only the elementary
portion of the course back in 1987.

"The program is designed to be reinforced at other grade levels," Levant
maintained. "It's only common sense that memory fades with time."

Founded in Los Angeles in 1983, D.A.R.E. brings local law enforcement
officers into elementary, middle and high schools to encourage youngsters to
avoid illicit drugs. After-school and parental curriculums are also
available. About 8,000 U.S. law enforcement agencies teach the elementary,
middle and/or high school courses in 80 percent of U.S. school systems. Most
of the program's $212 million annual budget comes from corporate
sponsorships. Federal grants provide about $1.75 million.

Sending a strong zero-tolerance message, D.A.R.E. officers use a
standardized curriculum that includes instructional films, role-playing
exercises peer-led sessions and a variety of problem solving, conflict
management and violence prevention techniques to teach youngsters about the
immediate and long-term effects of illegal drug use.

Levant said the courses were developed by experts and are considered the
"gold standard" in drug prevention education.

In Burlington, Vt., a town of about 40,000 on the shores of Lake Champlain,
Police Chief Elana Ennis dropped the D.A.R.E. program in May because she
felt the curriculum never changed and wasn't in tune with local needs.

Other critics say D.A.R.E.'s message is confusing and that placing such
important material in the hands of the police undermines parental authority.
Teachers also have criticized the program because it allow officers with
only a few weeks of D.A.R.E. training to take over classrooms.

"Most kids thought the program was beneath them and a little silly," said
Lt. Corr of the Lexington Police Department. His officers said the program's
portion about gang influence was a waste of time in his affluent suburban
community.

Levant said that local jurisdictions can insert information about drug
problems in their areas. But major departures from the curriculum are not
allowed.

"We've had some cities say, 'Instead of lesson two, how about if we allow
time for silent prayer? Or instead of lesson five, can we talk about birth
control?' That's not D.A.R.E.," Levant said.

Even though a few cities leave the program each year, Levant said an average
of 300 new communities join every year.