DARE AMERICA AT 20

DARE America, the nation's largest in-school drug awareness program,
celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with its image and reputation in
deep jeopardy.

Born out of a partnership between the Los Angeles Police Department and the
L.A. schools, Drug Abuse Resistance Education has suffered tough times
recently. State and local governments facing tight budgets have cut DARE
programs. Studies by the U.S. surgeon general, the General Accounting
Office and others have questioned DARE's effectiveness.

Illinois DARE officials predict that half of the state's schools that now
offer the program will drop it by the end of this year. Skokie, Chicago
Ridge and Peoria police have dropped it and others are considering similar
moves. Chicago Ridge Police Chief Tim Balderman told a Tribune reporter
that, after 13 years of DARE, his department actually saw an increase in
drug arrests, "all DARE graduates."

In DARE's defense, national spokesman Ralph Lochridge responds that the
critical studies were either too limited or, in some cases, were biased
against DARE's methods. The organization points to more favorable
assessments, such as a 2001 survey of Illinois DARE by an Ohio State
University professor. That study found that 86 percent of school principals
thought DARE made students less likely to abuse alcohol and drugs.

A comprehensive University of Akron study is following more than 20,000
students in various cities for five years to compare students who
participate in DARE and those who don't. Drawing on the first two years of
research, the study's director, Dr. Zili Sloboda, observes that students
who have come through DARE are measurably better informed that drugs are
not nearly as popular or commonly used as their non-DARE peers think they are.

It should surprise no one that the initial research also shows the
short-term benefits of teaching drug awareness and avoidance to children in
lower school grades is lost later if it is not reinforced by effective
follow-up programs. Particularly critical are the early teen years. If
parents and local school districts invest all of their efforts in DARE's
program for 5th graders, then let the efforts lapse by the time the
youngsters get to high school, they should not be surprised when the
anti-drug message does not stick.

DARE survives largely because so many dedicated police officers and others
who work with students believe in it. Local autonomy is good when it helps
DARE to adjust to local circumstances. Unfortunately, an organization as
big and varied as DARE can find that its effectiveness is burdened by
inconsistent use of the program.

As DARE America enters its third decade, it faces the challenge of taking
what it has learned in its most outstanding local programs and applying
those lessons nationally. Then it can narrow the gap between local chapters
that appear to be producing results and those that are not.