Dare Under Attack

DARE UNDER ATTACK

The DARE program has recently come under some scrutiny and criticism relating to its effectiveness in helping children to resist drugs. Reports in Time magazine and on the NBC Dateline show attempted to show that the program is ineffective and costly. They also emphasized that the DARE program is being dropped in Seattle, Washington. Why is the DARE program suddenly becoming so controversial?

The DARE program has been operational since 1983. Since then, the program has become extremely successful and popular. It has been adopted in approximately 70% of all elementary school districts nationwide as well as in numerous foreign countries as the program of choice to teach children the skills necessary to resist the temptations to experiment with drugs. The United States Defense Department has also adopted the program for children on military bases around the world. This type of growth and success is unusual for any type of program and would not be possible without it being effective.

Certain segments of the press and other media have given much coverage to a study commissioned by the United States Justice Department that said that the DARE program was not working. After examining this study, the Justice Department refused to accept it and publish it due to flawed collection of statistics. The media, however, printed the study with large headlines declaring DARE to be flawed.

There have been several studies conducted on the DARE program. Most of these are never mentioned in the media because the studies show that DARE is working. Most recently a study conducted by Ohio State University showed DARE is even more effective that what many believed.

Why then, these attacks on DARE?

If one looks at the anti-DARE publications it may not be immediately apparent why these groups are against a program that helps children. They use the arguments that DARE does not work, that DARE is too expensive, or that there are better programs around. Some of the groups would have you believe that the DARE program is NAZI inspired and that the program seeks to turn children against their parents. Looking into the organizations that are spreading these anti-DARE arguments, one finds a common theme in their agendas - - DRUGS! Here are a few of the groups on this list:

The Drug Reform Coordination Network
The Colorado Hemp Initiative Project
High Times magazine
The Minnesota Grassroots Party (their telephone line features a ten minute recording by Hugh Downs of ABC-TV's 20/20 program talking of the value of hemp)
The Lindesmith Center - - a self described "Manhattan based drug policy research institute." They are currently advertising seminars on:

drug prohibition in this century and why it is a war against provocative symbols rather than dangerous substances.
whether and under what conditions people may have a right to use drugs
the implications of California's Proposition 215 which legalizes marijuana for medical use

The Lindesmith Center also funds the "Drug Policy Foundation" which "...makes grants to organizations providing harm reduction services as well as groups advocating for drug policy reform."

Parents Against DARE - - a group largely made up of drug using and/or dealing adults who have been arrested for their illegal activities, usually after their child has learned through DARE that drugs can harm or kill a person, and that child cared enough to talk to someone in order to save their parent's life.

Why are these groups spending thousands of dollars attacking a program that they claim is ineffective? Because they know differently. They know that DARE is effective and that effectiveness is counter to their own stated objectives of legalizing drug use. They fear that DARE may further deter their efforts, so they have adopted the strategy of attacking DARE in whatever ways possible, even claiming that DARE is nazi inspired.

What about Seattle? Why did it drop the program as was made quite clear in Time and on Dateline? The fact is, Seattle never fully adopted DARE. There were only 4 or 5 part time DARE instructors in Seattle and the program was offered at only a few schools. Seattle has never made a commitment to use DARE! On the other hand, New York City did adopt the DARE program this year. Very little was mentioned about this.

Could it possibly be that certain media organizations, which rely on advertising revenues for their own existance, are under pressure from such large advertisers as the tobacco companies and beer, wine, and liquor companies to discredit DARE whenever possible?

Do as DARE teaches children: Do not believe that all advertising is the truth. Examine what the motive is and know the difference between a commercial and a public service ad.

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