STUDY: MANY DRUG PROGRAMS INEFFECTIVE

WASHINGTON - The top three programs used by schools to keep students away
from 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 UNC Chapel Hill say many schools are using
popular programs such as DARE, Here's Looking at You 2000 and McGruff's
Drug Prevention and Child Protection, which haven't shown the results
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 UNC when she conducted the
research.

The study found, 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, DARE, 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 its program is ineffective, DARE America is conducting a
five-year study to evaluate a new curriculum.

Hallfors' study, which polled 104 school districts in 11 states including
the Carolinas and the District of Columbia, showed many schools are using
research-based programs, but 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, because school districts should hire a full-time
coordinator.

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

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

A July survey showed 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 them to nurture other
interests.