DARE PROGRAMME REBOOTS

The commissioner of police said the DARE programme conducted in primary
schools is suffering from a lack of trained officers and as a result, some
schools have been neglected.

The Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) programme originated in 1983
through the collaborative effort of the Los Angeles Police Department and
the Unified School District. The mission of DARE is to provide children
with the information they need to live drug free.

The Antiguan programme, since its inception in 1997, has now spread to 20
schools from the four it started out with.

At the graduation ceremony of the Cedar Grove and Villa Primary's 5th and
6th grade, Commissioner Delano Christopher revealed that the programme had
suffered in recent years.

She said although the DARE programme's influence had spread through more
than 20 schools in nine years, there had been a lapse for the last two
years. The main factor of this lapse she said was the lack of personnel to
conduct the classes.

"As late as 2003, there were 13 trained DARE officers in the Royal Police
Force of Antigua & Barbuda. It's sad to say though, that number has been
depleted due to retirement of the service, overseas studies and
assignments. We now have only six active DARE officers."

She said despite the short numbers, the officers had resurrected the
dormant programmes in schools, such as Cedar Grove and Villa. The
programmes began in September 2005.

However, ways to mitigate the pressure on the present officers were not
offered during the address.

Families, friends, and government officials turned out at the Villa Baptist
Church to help celebrate with the 98 graduates of the DARE programme which
gave them the tools to say "no" in the face of being offered drugs and
other debilitating substances.