STUDIES SHOW DARE DOESN'T WORK

The DARE program as described by its promoters should be extremely
successful, and if you had the opportunity to witness a presentation,
as I have, you would come away believing it is. But it is not.

Here's what I found out about DARE using Wikipedia:

Started in 1983 in Los Angeles, it quickly caught the attention of
the nation; the DARE program, with the help of the White House,
spread faster than the drugs it was designed to destroy.

However, in 1992 researchers at Indiana University found those who
completed the DARE program subsequently had significantly higher
rates of drug use than those not exposed to the program. In 1994 a
revised curriculum was launched.

In 1995 the California Department of Education stated that none of
California's drug education programs worked, including DARE. In 1998
the University of Maryland's report concluded that "DARE does not
work to reduce substance use." DARE expanded and modified its
curriculum in response to the report.

In 1999 a 10-year study by the American Psychological Association
involving 1,000 DARE graduates measured the effects of the program.
No measurable effects were noted. Researchers compared levels of use
of alcohol, cigarette, marijuana and other illegal substances before
the DARE program (when the students were in sixth grade) with
post-DARE levels (when they were 20 years old). There were some
measured effects shortly after the program on the attitudes of the
students toward drug use; however, these effects did not seem to last
long term.

In 2001 the Surgeon General of the United States placed the DARE
program in the category of "Does Not Work." The U.S. General
Accountability Office concluded in 2003 that the program was
sometimes counterproductive in some populations, with those who
graduate from DARE later having higher rates of drug use.

In March 2007 the DARE program was placed on a list of treatments
that have the potential to cause harm in clients, according to
Perspectives on Psychological Science. In 2007 a new curriculum for
prescription drug abuse and over-the-counter drug abuse was created by DARE.

They--law enforcement officials and others--keep trying to fix it. It
took a financial crisis to get DARE suspended when it should have
been canceled years ago. For conservatives and liberals alike it is
nothing more than a feel-good program. There is no better time than
now to really take a hard look at the "war on drugs."

Daniel R. Jenkins

Simi Valley