Pubdate: Tue, 29 Oct 2002
Source: Oklahoman, The (OK)
Copyright: 2002 The Oklahoma Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.oklahoman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/318
Author: Greg Toppo, AP Education Writer
Bookmark: DARE http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm

DRUG PROGRAM SHOWS PROMISE

WASHINGTON -- An overhauled version of the much-maligned D.A.R.E. anti-drug 
program shows promising results in early trials, researchers said, 
suggesting that lessons once reserved for fifth-graders could be reborn 
someday for other pupils. Researchers found that seventh-graders in six 
cities who took part in the new curriculum were more likely to find using 
drugs socially inappropriate than a control group, were better at refusing 
drugs and had fewer misconceptions about how many of their peers use drugs. 
They were also less likely to say they would use inhalants.

"It shows us that the program is doing what it intended to do, and in a 
very significant way," said Zili Sloboda, an epidemiologist at the 
University of Akron.

The results were being released today by the university.

Sloboda, who led the study, said it's too early to tell if the new program 
will have significant impact on drug use but anticipated a follow-up 
program in high school will help children stay off drugs just as pressure 
to use them begins in earnest.

D.A.R.E., or Drug Abuse Resistance Education, was created by police 
officers in Los Angeles in 1983 to teach fifth-graders about the dangers of 
drugs. The program has been implemented in 80 percent of school districts, 
but over the past few years critics have said it doesn't work.

A study last August by the University of North Carolina found that several 
top anti-drug programs, including the original version of D.A.R.E., were 
either ineffective or hadn't been sufficiently tested.

Other researchers have found that illegal drug use among teenagers has 
remained level or decreased over the past few years, partly because adults 
are warning students about drug use and encouraging children to nurture 
other interests.

Sloboda said the new program also will involve more lifelike situations and 
help students confront peer pressure more effectively.
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