Pubdate: Fri, 22 Jun 2001 Source: Merritt Herald (CN BC) Copyright: 2001 Merritt Herald Contact: http://www.merrittherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1446 Author: Alan Randell Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n1074/a09.html Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.) DARE GRADS JUST AS LIKELY TO SMOKE, DRINK, OR USE DRUGS Re: DARE critics have agenda to legalize marijuana, Letters, June 13. Cpl. Sean Neary's letter in support of the DARE program contained no information whatsoever about whether or not the DARE program is effective in discouraging drug use amongst its graduates. Neary made reference to a number of research studies but cleverly didn't say what those studies concluded. Research has consistently pointed out that DARE is ineffective. A 10-year follow-up study, published in 1999, compared graduates of DARE with students who had simply learned about drugs in Health class from their teacher. Those graduates, at age 20, were just as likely as the others to be smoking, drinking or using illegal drugs. The senior researcher, Donald Lyman at the University of Kentucky, and his colleagues concluded: "there appears to be no reliable short-term, long-term, early adolescent, or young adult positive outcomes associated with receiving the DARE intervention." The Surgeon General in the United States reported in January that programs like DARE do not work. In February, the head of DARE made the extraordinary admission the program has not been effective and that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation had granted DARE a $13.7 million grant to bring the curriculum up to date and to scientifically evaluate its usefulness. Alan Randell, Victoria, B.C. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk