National DARE Day - Celebrating Failure

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 11, 2006

Bush Declares “National D.A.R.E. Day”

Studies Show D.A.R.E. Fails to Keep Kids Off Drugs

President Says “Heckuva Job” Anyway

WASHINGTON, DC – President Bush has declared today, April 11 “National D.A.R.E. Day,” despite federally-funded research showing the popular anti-drug program fails to reduce youth drug use and can actually increase drug use among some teens.

“Rewarding failure doesn’t keep kids off drugs. This is the Drug War equivalent of President Bush congratulating FEMA’s Michael Brown on a ‘heckuva job’ after Hurricane Katrina,” said Kris Krane, executive director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. “Those of us who grew up during the escalation of the War on Drugs know that D.A.R.E.’s failed scare tactics put our generation at greater risk. For most students, the D.A.R.E. program is their first exposure to drugs, which only piques their curiosity.”

A 2003 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that D.A.R.E. has “no statistically significant long-term effect on preventing youth illicit drug use.” In addition, students who participate in D.A.R.E. demonstrate “no significant differences... [in] attitudes toward illicit drug use [or] resistance to peer pressure” compared to children who had not been exposed to the program, the GAO determined.

One study found that suburban students who were exposed to D.A.R.E. had significantly higher levels of drug use than the suburban students who did not go through the program. The U.S. Surgeon General, the National Academy of Science, and the U.S. Department of Education have all criticized D.A.R.E. in recent years.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy is calling on schools around the country to abandon D.A.R.E. and implement science-based education programs that effectively reach kids by teaching them about the real effects and potential harms of drugs without exaggeration or scare tactics.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a national organization with college and high school chapters, is committed to providing education on harms caused by the War on Drugs, working to involve youth in the political process, and promoting an open, honest, and rational discussion of alternative solutions to our nation's drug problems.

# # #