WASHINGTON (AP) Most children decide on their own whether to use drugs with
little concern for strong antidrug messages they get from health teachers or
others at school, a study of California youngsters suggests.

In fact, the programs may breed confusion and mistrust in youngsters who hear
the message condemning alcohol, illegal drugs and tobacco yet see their
parents or others use those substances, the research says.

The study, published last week in the journal Educational Evaluation and
Policy Analysis, adds to research already critical of programs such as
D.A.R.E., or Drug Abuse Resistance Education, that have received billions of
dollars in federal help.

Last month, the Education Department released a study showing the failure of
most programs to halt the rise in drug use. Still, the department says
workable programs can be developed and wants to spend $620 million next year
on drug education, up from $558 million this year and $438 million in 1996.

The newly published research dealt with a California program called Drug,
Alcohol and Tobacco Education, or DATE, that California officials say was
abandoned in 1994. But the article said that DATE resembled programs being
used across the nation.

``Given the similarity of many U.S. drug education programs, student
rejection of DATE programs is significant,'' the article said.

The study suggests a basic problem in programs that use fear and rewards such
as Tshirts to get children to shun alcohol, illegal drugs and tobacco, said
lead researcher Joel H. Brown.

Brown said a key problem is the absolute, ``nosubstanceuse'' message of
federally approved antidrug programs, when adults can legally use substances
like alcohol and tobacco that are banned for children.

Children ``resolve that people are either lying to them or not providing them
with the whole picture,'' Brown said by telephone from Berkeley, where he
runs Educational Research Consultants, a private firm.

Jane Henderson, a deputy superintendent with the California Department of
Education, said the department has made program changes based on the
research, much of which has been published in various forms.

She said local districts still may spend some federal money on programs such
as D.A.R.E., but the schools must show real results.

Brown's study relied on random surveys and on indepth interviews conducted
in 1993. Some 5,000 students, grades 712, were surveyed. Of those students,
43 percent said they were ``not at all'' affected by drug classes and
activities.

Only 15 percent said drug decisions were affected ``a lot'' or
``completely.''

Nearly 59 percent said they made their substance use decisions ``a lot'' or
``completely'' on their own.

Brown said the answers cannot be explained away as adolescent rebellion
because the focus groups with children showed the responses were well thought
out.

Rather than hearing from teachers, police or even parents, students would
rather get factual information from drug users and abusers about their
experiences. Although some programs include talks by addicts about the
harmful consequences of drugs, students want more than that.

``It is reasonable to believe them when they say they want complete drug
information without fear appeal, delivered by someone from outside the school
who is, or was, a substance user or abuser,'' the study said.

Henderson agreed in part. ``That's probably one strategy that will work.''
But she said such an approach has not been proven effective.

The U.S. Education Department had no immediate comment on the report.

Henderson denied a contention by Brown publicists that the state had tried to
discredit his research. However, Ralph Lochridge, a spokesman for D.A.R.E.,
based in Los Angeles, argued that the research in fact had been discredited
by the state.

``It was an invalid study,'' he said.

The journal is published by the American Educational Research Association,
based in Washington.