ROAD TO HELL PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS

Dear Editor:

Re: Dare program visits Castlegar Rotary Club, July 12, 2002

It is said the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Such is the case
with D.A.R.E.

It is important to remember that all the pomp, ceremony, certificates and
feel-good efforts of controlled environments, including school yards is one
thing; the streets is another matter. There, Mr. Police Officer is not the
friendly D.A.R.E. officer and bullies aren't going to be reasonable, caring
or for that matter, peer equivalent.

Let's not kid ourselves, D.A.R.E. is a rather underhanded means of
importing U.S drug-war ideology, nothing more.

Has D.A.R.E prevented the rash of school shootings in America? NO!

Has D.A.R.E. prevented substance use among youth in America? NO!

Despite the fact that federal spending on the drug war increased from $1.65
billion in 1982 to $17.7 billion in 1999, more than half of the students in
the United States in 1999 tried an illegal drug before they graduated from
high school. Additionally, 65% have tried cigarettes by 12th grade and 35%
are current smokers, and 62% of twelfth graders and 25% of 8th graders in
1999 report having been drunk at least once. (1)

Given the duration of time that D.A.R.E. has been in existence, had
D.A.R.E. been successful this would be apparent; statistics clearly show
this has not been the case.

D.A.R.E. has been the target of much criticism in recent years, including
the 2001 report by the Surgeon General, which concluded that "[D.A.R.E.'s]
popularity persists despite numerous well-designed evaluations and
meta-analyses that consistently show little or no deterrent effects on
substance use." (2)

"Our results are consistent in documenting the absence of beneficial
effects associated with the DARE program.

This was true whether the outcome consisted of actual drug use or merely
attitudes toward drug use.

In addition, we examined processes that are the focus of intervention and
purportedly mediate the impact of DARE (e.g., self-esteem and peer
resistance), and these also failed to differentiate DARE participants from
nonparticipants. Thus, consistent with the earlier Clayton et al. (1996)
study, there appear to be no reliable short-term, long-term, early
adolescent, or young adult positive outcomes associated with receiving the
DARE intervention." (2)

Do any really expect this to be different in Canada?

Wayne Phillips,

Hamilton, Ontario

(1) Source: Office of National Drug Control Policy, National Drug Control
Strategy: Budget Summary (Washington DC: US Government Printing Office,
1992), pp. 212-214; Office of National Drug Control Policy, National Drug
Control Strategy: 2000 Annual Report (Washington DC: US Government Printing
Office, 2000), p. 97, figure 4-2; Johnston, L., Bachman, J. & O'Malley, P.,
Monitoring the Future: National Results on Adolescent Drug Use Overview of
Key Findings 1999, (Washington, DC: NIDA, 2000), pp. 3-6.

(2) Source: Lynam, Donald R., Milich, Richard, et al., "Project DARE: No
Effects at 10-Year Follow-Up", Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Psychology (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, August
1999), Vol. 67, No. 4, 590-593.