DRUG PROGRAMS LACKING, STUDY SAYS

Schools Aren't Getting Adequate Results, It Finds

WASHINGTON - The top three programs used by schools to keep students
away from drugs are ineffective or insufficiently tested, new research
suggests.

In a study published yesterday 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 - including
DARE, Here's Looking at You 2000 and McGruff's Drug Prevention and
Child Protection - that haven't shown the kind of results schools
should expect, despite years of use.

"It's not a very good use of taxpayer money," said Denise Hallfors, 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 despite a decade of federal efforts to promote
proven programs, many schools 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. DARE is being used in 80 percent of school districts.

In response to criticism that 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 and
the District of Columbia, found that many schools use research-based
programs but often don't train teachers adequately or don't use all
materials available. One in three districts used the programs
effectively, the study found.

Hallfors said federal funding for such programs - about $5 per child
annually - isn't enough, because school districts should hire
full-time coordinators. "If you're getting $4,000 a year, you're not
able to hire that person," she said.

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 that drug use among teens has remained
steady or decreased.