Student presentation examining the history and failures of D.A.R.E.

Students in my Marijuana Law, Policy & Reform seminar are continuing with their amazing efforts “taking over” my class through presentations on the research topics of their choice. The first of our presentations for the coming week will be looking at D.A.R.E. Here is how my student has described her topic along with background readings she has provided for her classmates (and the rest of us):

D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) began in the 1980s as a school based program designed to prevent tobacco use, alcohol use, and drug use.  Its beginning is rooted in the War on Drugs and the Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” movement.  The program consists of lectures and simulations conducted by uniformed police officers in classrooms.  D.A.R.E. was extremely prevalent at its height.  As of 2016, 75% of U.S. school districts and 52 countries taught the D.A.R.E. program.  Worldwide over 200 million K-12 children have been taught the D.A.R.E. program.  However, despite D.A.R.E.’s popularity, in the 1990s and early 2000s numerous studies found that D.A.R.E. did not reduce students use of tobacco, alcohol, or drugs.  In fact, D.A.R.E. likely had a “boomerang effect”, making students more likely to use tobacco, alcohol, and drugs.  Since 2009 D.A.R.E. has been teaching a revamped program, Keepin’ It Real, but does the Keepin’ It Real program address the issues of the original D.A.R.E. program? Furthermore, in the era of marijuana legalization, how does D.A.R.E. address marijuana? Overall, major changes still need to be made to the D.A.R.E. program for it to remain relevant and useful to K-12 students.

BACKGROUND LINKS

D.A.R.E. website

Press report, “STUDY: D.A.R.E. Teaches Kids About Drugs But Doesn’t Prevent Use” (1994)

Letter from United States General Accounting Office, “Youth Illicit Drug Use Prevention: DARE Long-Term Evaluations and Federal Efforts to Identify Effective Programs” (2003)

Article from Washington Post, “D.A.R.E. Gets Duped by Anti-Pot Satire” (2015)

D.A.R.E., “D.A.R.E.’s Position and Curricula Regarding Marijuana and Legalization” (2018)

Article from Herb, “Has D.A.R.E. Removed Cannabis from ‘Gateway’ Drugs List?” (2019) 

Commentarty from American Addiction Centers, “Does the New D.A.R.E. Program Work?” (2022)