ANTI-DRUG PROGRAM HIT BY NEW BARRAGE OF FLAK

Word of the latest study to question the effectiveness of widely used
anti-drug program D.A.R.E. did not surprise Houston City Councilman Ray
Driscoll.

He has long believed the city was wasting its money on the $3.7
million-a-year program.

In fact, Driscoll on Tuesday said he probably will try to find another
council member to carry on his fight against the program after term limits
force him from office at the end of the year.

"I still do not believe we get our money out of it," Driscoll said. "They're
going to have to prove it to me."

This fall, the Houston Police Department will evaluate its current program,
which was enhanced earlier this year even after a local study concluded it
was largely ineffective at preventing teens from using drugs.

A just-published study by researchers at the University of Kentucky drew
similar conclusions after tracking more than 1,000 students 10 years after
they participated in a sixth-grade Drug Abuse Resistance Education program.
The study was published in the August issue of the American Psychological
Association's Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.

D.A.R.E. resulted in some initial improvements in the students' attitudes
about drug use, the Kentucky researchers said, but those changes did not
last and did not influence the decisions the students made.

Donald R. Lynam, assistant professor of psychology at the University of
Kentucky, acknowledged that D.A.R.E. has undergone nine curriculum changes
since the study's participants went through the program. But, he said, the
results mirror the findings of other studies that have concluded that
students who participate in the police officer-taught D.A.R.E. program are
no more likely to resist drugs, alcohol or cigarettes than those who go
through a standard health curriculum.

"Let's just be a little circumspect," Lynam said. "Let's ask for data on
D.A.R.E. before we adopt it, wholesale, which may be a little late. At least
what we've shown is the one shot of D.A.R.E. in sixth grade isn't
effective."

Though he had yet to see the study, Frank Pegueros, deputy director of
Inglewood, Calif.-based D.A.R.E. America, said the group did not anticipate
any new information from the Kentucky study.

He said D.A.R.E. America, which develops the curricula used in D.A.R.E.
programs across the country, recognized several years ago that without
reinforcement of the program's message in later grades, elementary
instruction in resisting drugs was largely lost by the time children reached
high school, where first-time drug use often occurs.

Since then, he said, several communities have begun to implement the program
in middle and high schools.

"Our interest is providing the best curriculum available to the officers,"
Pegueros said. "Our curriculums are living documents. State of the art in
prevention and intervention are constantly changing. We're open, and have
been, to constructive criticism on improving the program."

The Houston Police Department took much of the conclusions of last year's
largely critical study of its D.A.R.E. programs the same way.

The study by University of Houston-Downtown social sciences Professor Bruce
Gay called the city's program "only marginally successful" in steering
youngsters from substance abuse.

Calling it an enhanced D.A.R.E. program, Police Chief C.O. Bradford
announced changes in January.

In addition to plans to include other local anti-drug and alcohol programs,
the program was expanded to include fourth graders and a pilot program for
10th-graders at Madison High School.

The department also plans to add a parental-involvement component to the
program, said Sgt. Craig Fletcher, a supervisor in the D.A.R.E. unit.

He characterized the Madison pilot program as successful, saying it was
popular among students, teachers and administrators.

The pilot included 10 lessons and testing before and after the program
started.

"We saw that 67 percent of the students improved their scores after
receiving the 10 D.A.R.E. lessons," Fletcher said. "We also did a survey of
student opinions of how they perceived it helping them. Over 80 percent
(said) either a great deal or substantially it helped them."

The department is considering a plan to try another pilot program at Reagan
High School, he said.

One of the promised changes in HPD's D.A.R.E. program was an annual
evaluation for effectiveness.

Fletcher said that evaluation is expected to take place during the fall
semester and the results available next year.

Driscoll is interested but not optimistic about the results.

"I personally don't believe it's going to make any difference," the
councilman said. "A new analysis will only give the anti-D.A.R.E. people
more ammunition."

Driscoll tried, unsuccessfully, last summer to cut funding for the city's
D.A.R.E. program by half, saying the money should be spent on initiatives
that have proven themselves.

He said he did not raise the issue during the recently completed city budget
process because HPD had revised the program.

"And they were going to be running an analysis of whether it was working,"
Driscoll said. "I didn't think it was appropriate to jump all over them. I
have talked to the chief about it, and he still knows I'm not happy."