Pubdate: Thu, 05 Oct 2006
Source: Republican, The (Springfield, MA)
Copyright: 2006 The Republican
Contact:  http://www.masslive.com/republican/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3075
Author: Jeff Harness
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n1295/a02.html

DRUG PREVENTION EFFORTS NEED FREQUENT EVALUATION

I'm writing in response to a recent letter to the editor in support 
of the DARE substance abuse prevention program. It is obvious that he 
had a positive experience with the Wilbraham DARE program.

While DARE apparently worked for the writer, it is important to know 
if DARE is equally beneficial for all, or even many, young people. 
For earlier versions of the curriculum, evaluation results showed no 
statistically meaningful impact of DARE, (see "Youth Violence: A 
Report of the Surgeon General").

The current version of DARE, "Taking Charge of Your Life," is nearing 
the end of a five-year evaluation in six U.S. communities. Results to 
date suggest that the new DARE is an improvement over earlier 
versions and may be especially useful for high-risk youth.

In his letter, the writer asks: "What else is available?" Over the 
past 30 years or so, there has been a great deal of research on what 
works and what doesn't in substance abuse prevention. There are now 
more than 100 programs that the federal Substance Abuse and Mental 
Health Services Administration has listed as model, effective or 
promising. These programs have been well-implemented and 
well-evaluated, meaning they have been reviewed by the National 
Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices according to 
rigorous standards of research.

Prevention is at its most effective when parents, communities, youth, 
law enforcement and schools work together and use a variety of 
communitywide and school approaches - but only when those approaches 
have been tested and proven to work. It is too soon to know if the 
new DARE curriculum will meet that test. Anyone who is interested in 
learning more about effective prevention approaches can contact us. 
Our Web site is www.westernmasshealthy communities.org.

Jeff Harness

Director

Western Massachusetts Center for Healthy Communities

Holyoke
- ---
MAP posted-by: Elaine