Drug Policy Education Group

Drug Education

DARE programs fail

DPEG collects and shares information about youth drug education programs, including the popular DARE. Increasingly, DARE has been criticized for failing in its primary objective, which is to keep kids from experimenting with alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Drug Policy Education Group, Inc. helps interested persons learn more about drug education.

For nearly two decades, drug education grew from the Reagan era idea that kids should "JUST SAY NO" to drugs. Such "no" based drug education forms the core of America's effort to keep kids drug free. But increasingly, experts and researchers are saying that these programs are not working.

For an excellent analysis of the current programs, including Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE), read "Teach Them Well," by Ryan H. Sager, National Review, May 1, 2000.

Mr. Sager writes: "By age 18, about 55 percent of students have tried some illicit drug... At a time when educators and the federal government are as committed as ever to the DARE program and to a new $1 billion five-year taxpayer-funded anti-drug advertising campaign, it is appropriate to evaluate the return we're getting on our investment."

One alternative to DARE is "reality-based" drug education. This concept is described in "Safety First: A Reality-Based Approach to Teens, Drugs, and Drug Education" by Marsha Rosenbaum, PhD, published 1999 by the Lindesmith Center.

Recent studies have shown DARE to be ineffective. To read the full story, click here.

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