DARE Conference Wrap Up

Update: The UStream broadcast mentioned below has been canceled. It will be rescheduled.

Friends,

I'd like to let you know that I'm alive and well -- albeit intellectually exhausted -- following my attendance at the DARE conference this week.

I have video clips and insights to share, but I'll save those for my UStream broadcast next week. I hope you can tune in:

WHO:
SSDP members everywhere.
Hosted by yours truly (Micah Daigle, SSDP Associate Director).

WHAT:
Recap of the DARE conference and discussion of SSDP's role in promoting effective drug education programs.
(UStream allows participants to discuss topics within a chat room, while the host leads the discussion via video feed.)

WHEN:
Wednesday, August 20th
9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific

WHERE:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ssdp-chat

In the meantime, I'll be editing my footage together into a video to post on the internets and YouTubes. The footage varies from interviews with genuinely good-hearted DARE officers talking about the relationships they've built with young people through their time teaching the program, to die-hard zealots preaching about their disdain for evidence-based education programs and harm-reduction.

Although the latter footage is much more damning (and thus valuable to those who oppose the DARE program), I'm going to do my best to portray my experience at the conference in a fair light. We may score quick points by being selective about what we see and hear, but we'll never win this fight if we become zealots like the prohibitionists who oppose us.

Until next time...