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Resources

D.A.R.E.

9800 La Cienega Blvd., Inglewood, CA, 90301, (800) 223-DARE

http://www.dare.com
Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E., was founded in 1983, and has gone through many revisions and transformations. Currently, its main purpose is to bring police officers into elementary, middle, and high school classrooms to teach students a “no-use” message about drugs; while focusing on normative beliefs, consequential thinking, and a message of immediate consequences, (among other things). The parent organization is “D.A.R.E. America,” based in California. Not a government program, but does receive some federal funding and administration support. Recent studies illustrate that the D.A.R.E. program is ineffective in keeping kids off drugs. The Drug Policy Alliance reports that D.A.R.E. annually costs $1 to $1.3 billion, and cites a Michigan State study saying that even D.A.R.E.’s newest messages do not seem to work. In 2001 the U.S. Surgeon General placed D.A.R.E. under the category of “Ineffective Programs.” Critics argue that D.A.R.E.’s messages are confusing to children and provide an exaggerated picture of drug use.