Pubdate: Tue, 11 Dec 2001
Source: Decatur Daily (AL)
Copyright: 2001 The Decatur Daily
Contact:  http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/index.shtml
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/696
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)

D.A.R.E. TO KEEP THE MESSAGE COMING

Every now and then we hear of some study saying that the Drug Abuse 
Resistance Education program isn't working. The nation's youths are still 
experimenting with drugs and sometimes getting hooked with tragic consequences.

A look at any police blotter is evidence the drug trade is still active. 
Authorities have long said drugs are the impetus for most crime.

Drugs are still around nearly 20 years after the 17-week D.A.R.E. program 
was started in Los Angeles in 1983. So if this is the yardstick by which we 
measure the program's effectiveness, then we suppose there are those around 
who would say it's a dismal failure.

But what if there had been no D.A.R.E.? There is no way to measure how many 
youngsters never smoked their first joint, smoked their first rock of crack 
or drank themselves comatose because they remembered the lessons they 
learned in D.A.R.E.

But these are things we do know: D.A.R.E. may be the first and only 
positive contact some children have with a police officer. It may be the 
first time they are in an environment where they can talk about peer 
pressure and any other thing that may be eating at them without fear of 
reprisal. That time may never come again.

For now, we call on educators and on government officials who control the 
purse strings to D.A.R.E. to keep the message coming.
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MAP posted-by: Beth