Pubdate: Thu, 11 Oct 2001
Source: Daily Reflector (NC)
Copyright: 2001 Daily Reflector
Contact:  http://www.reflector.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1456
Author: Mike Ruff
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)

DARE PROGRAM'S EFFECTIVENESS DISPUTED

In the Oct. 7 issue of The Daily Reflector, Kim Walters of Winterville 
said: "Is Mr. Ruff not familiar with the DARE program and its success in 
our state?" Yes, I am quite familiar with the DARE program, and its success 
rate. Allow me to share the real deal on the DARE program. A federally 
funded Research Triangle Institute study of Drug Abuse Resistance Education 
(DARE) found that "DARE's core curriculum effect on drug use relative to 
whatever drug education (if any) was offered in the control schools is 
slight and, except for tobacco use, is not statistically significant." 
(Source: Ennett, S.T., et al., "How Effective Is Drug Abuse Resistance 
Education? A Meta-Analysis of Project DARE Outcome Evaluations," American 
Journal of Public Health, 84: 1394-1401 (1994).)

Dr. Dennis Rosenbaum, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, 
recently completed a six-year study of 1,798 students and found that "DARE 
had no long-term effects on a wide range of drug use measures;" DARE does 
not "prevent drug use at the stage in adolescent development when drugs 
become available and are widely used, namely during the high school years;" 
and that DARE may actually be counter productive. According to the study, 
"there is some evidence of a boomerang effect among suburban kids.

That is, suburban students who were DARE graduates scored higher than 
suburban students in the Control group on all four major drug use 
measures." (Source: Rosenbaum, Dennis, Assessing the Effects of 
School-based Drug Education: A Six Year Multilevel Analysis of Project 
DARE, Abstract (April 6, 1998).)

MIKE RUFF

Candidate, City Council

District 3
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MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager