ANTI-DRUG PROGRAMS CRITICIZED

Study: Schools Are Wasting Tax Money

WASHINGTON - The top three programs used by schools to keep students off
drugs are either ineffective or haven't been sufficiently tested, new
research suggests.

In a study being published today in Health Education Research, a journal
for educators, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill say many schools are using popular programs such as D.A.R.E., Here's
Looking at You 2000 and McGruff's Drug Prevention and Child Protection,
which haven't shown the kind of results that schools should expect, despite
years of use.

"It's not a very good use of taxpayer money," said Denise Hallfors, now a
substance abuse prevention researcher at the Pacific Institute for Research
and Evaluation, a nonprofit group. She was at the University of North
Carolina when she conducted the research.

The study found that, in spite of a decade of efforts from the federal
government to promote proven programs, many schools still use "heavily
marketed curricula that have not been evaluated, have been evaluated
inadequately or have been shown to be ineffective in reducing substance abuse."

The most popular, D.A.R.E., Drug Abuse Resistance Education, was created by
police officers in Los Angeles in 1983 to teach children about the dangers
of drugs. More than 50,000 officers have been trained nationwide, and the
program is being implemented in 80 percent of school districts. In response
to criticism that its program is ineffective, D.A.R.E America is conducting
a five-year study to evaluate a new curriculum.

Hallfors's study polled 104 school districts in 11 states.

and the District of Columbia, showed that many schools are using
research-based programs, but that they often don't train teachers
adequately or don't use all the materials available. Only one in three
school districts used the programs effectively, the study showed.

She also said federal funding for such programs - about $5 per child
annually - isn't enough, since school districts should hire a full-time
coordinator.

"If you're getting $4,000 a year, you're not able to hire that person,"
Hallfors said.

The survey included school districts from Arkansas, California,
Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, North Carolina, New
Jersey, South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.

Other researchers have found that illegal drug use among teenagers has
remained level or decreased over the past several years.

A July survey showed that drug, alcohol and cigarette use among sixth- to
12th-graders dropped to the lowest level since 1994, partly because adults
are warning students about drug use and encouraging kids to nurture other
interests.