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> But in fact D.A.R.E., as it has been conducted for the past thirty years at least, doesn’t decrease children’s use of drugs. That's an understatement. Numero

> But in fact D.A.R.E., as it has been conducted for the past thirty years at least, doesn’t decrease children’s use of drugs. That's an understatement. Numerous studies have found that D.A.R.E. increases drug use: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Abuse_Resistance_Education#Studies_on_effectiveness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Abuse_Resistance_Educatio...

MiddleEndian 9y ago
Another problem I have with DARE is that it conflates some important messages (like don't give in to peer pressure) with its message of all drugs will ruin your life. When people learn that certain drugs they mention are just not that bad, other important messages could be dismissed as well. Note: I don't have any study to support this but it's my hypothesis.
- Thriptic 9y ago
  Exactly this. The program is infantilizing and not based in fact. There are great reasons why you may not want to do a number of drugs: opiates (high addiction potential, incapacitating); meth (wrecks you); cocaine (less problematic but you can't trust the cutting agents, it can exacerbate cardiac conditions, it can give you transient ED if you're a guy); molly (one poor formulation can kill you or leave you mentally incapacitated for life). I don't recall this ever being reviewed at a D.A.R.E event. All I remember hearing is "drugs are categorically bad and dangerous" which as you say falls down under scrutiny when you think about alcohol, weed, or even cocaine to some degree.
  - yorwba 9y ago
    Alcohol, weed and cocaine are pretty bad and dangerous, though. It just happens to be that those are more or less socially acceptable ways to become temporarily stupid at the expense of long-term health, which I agree makes "abstinence only" education efforts seem hypocritical. Since people are going to self-medicate one way or another, teaching responsible use seems like the better choice.
    - tomrod 9y ago
      Weed and certain cocaine uses aren't bad.
      - sincerely 9y ago
        I partake but there are absolutely negative side effects to both. Cocaine is pretty damn addictive and weed is hardly consequence free either (although it probably has the best accessibility:side effect ratio out of any drug that i'm aware of)
      - yorwba 9y ago
        If by "not bad" you mean "not as bad as other drugs" or "I can live with the consequences", then sure. Otherwise, messing with your body's chemical pathways tends to have negative side-effects, especially when you overdo it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_(drug)#Adverse_effects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_(drug)#Adverse_effect... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine#Adverse_effects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine#Adverse_effects
      - mirimir 9y ago
        In my experience, weed has tended to make me spacey and forgetful. Unless it's headbanger skunk, in which case there's more agitation. And after 50+ years, perhaps some of that has become permanent. Or it could have been all the LSD, or just garden-variety dementia :) But cocaine, that's some iffy stuff. It's possible to get addicted, even snorting hydrochloride salt. And once you get into freebasing aka crack, you're also looking at ~permanent downregulation of dopamine receptors. So basically, there's no more feeling happy :( Without the cocaine, anyway.
tomc1985 9y ago
Most of us who went through the program regard it defiantly. I don't think I've seen anyone wear a DARE shirt in a way that wasn't ironic
gumby 9y ago
> That's an understatement. Numerous studies have found that D.A.R.E. increases drug use ...which helps the prison-industrial complex (in California at least) and the DEA. This makes me wonder...
meuk 9y ago
From the linked page: "Students who enter the program [...] are informed [...] about the government's beliefs about the dangers of recreational drug use [...]" This wording is very suggestive, and I think that part of the problem might be 'the government's beliefs'. When I was studying abroad in the US I was surprised by the lack of nuance in the information provided by the university. It stated that 1. Drunk sex equals rape (but only if you are male) 2. Drinking alcohol can lead to pregnancy (without any elaboration). I found it very hard to take any drug or alcohol-related information from the university serious after reading that. You feel like a little child that's being lied to, and I can see how this increases drug abuse. The zero-tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol under 21 also feels very distopian, and is enforced in a very dogmatic way, without much common sense.

MiddleEndian 9y ago

Another problem I have with DARE is that it conflates some important messages (like don't give in to peer pressure) with its message of all drugs will ruin your life. When people learn that certain drugs they mention are just not that bad, other important messages could be dismissed as well. Note: I don't have any study to support this but it's my hypothesis.

Thriptic 9y ago
Exactly this. The program is infantilizing and not based in fact. There are great reasons why you may not want to do a number of drugs: opiates (high addiction potential, incapacitating); meth (wrecks you); cocaine (less problematic but you can't trust the cutting agents, it can exacerbate cardiac conditions, it can give you transient ED if you're a guy); molly (one poor formulation can kill you or leave you mentally incapacitated for life). I don't recall this ever being reviewed at a D.A.R.E event. All I remember hearing is "drugs are categorically bad and dangerous" which as you say falls down under scrutiny when you think about alcohol, weed, or even cocaine to some degree.
- yorwba 9y ago
  Alcohol, weed and cocaine are pretty bad and dangerous, though. It just happens to be that those are more or less socially acceptable ways to become temporarily stupid at the expense of long-term health, which I agree makes "abstinence only" education efforts seem hypocritical. Since people are going to self-medicate one way or another, teaching responsible use seems like the better choice.
  - tomrod 9y ago
    Weed and certain cocaine uses aren't bad.
    - sincerely 9y ago
      I partake but there are absolutely negative side effects to both. Cocaine is pretty damn addictive and weed is hardly consequence free either (although it probably has the best accessibility:side effect ratio out of any drug that i'm aware of)
    - yorwba 9y ago
      If by "not bad" you mean "not as bad as other drugs" or "I can live with the consequences", then sure. Otherwise, messing with your body's chemical pathways tends to have negative side-effects, especially when you overdo it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_(drug)#Adverse_effects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_(drug)#Adverse_effect... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine#Adverse_effects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocaine#Adverse_effects
    - mirimir 9y ago
      In my experience, weed has tended to make me spacey and forgetful. Unless it's headbanger skunk, in which case there's more agitation. And after 50+ years, perhaps some of that has become permanent. Or it could have been all the LSD, or just garden-variety dementia :) But cocaine, that's some iffy stuff. It's possible to get addicted, even snorting hydrochloride salt. And once you get into freebasing aka crack, you're also looking at ~permanent downregulation of dopamine receptors. So basically, there's no more feeling happy :( Without the cocaine, anyway.

tomc1985 9y ago

Most of us who went through the program regard it defiantly. I don't think I've seen anyone wear a DARE shirt in a way that wasn't ironic

gumby 9y ago

> That's an understatement. Numerous studies have found that D.A.R.E. increases drug use ...which helps the prison-industrial complex (in California at least) and the DEA. This makes me wonder...

meuk 9y ago

From the linked page: "Students who enter the program [...] are informed [...] about the government's beliefs about the dangers of recreational drug use [...]" This wording is very suggestive, and I think that part of the problem might be 'the government's beliefs'. When I was studying abroad in the US I was surprised by the lack of nuance in the information provided by the university. It stated that 1. Drunk sex equals rape (but only if you are male) 2. Drinking alcohol can lead to pregnancy (without any elaboration). I found it very hard to take any drug or alcohol-related information from the university serious after reading that. You feel like a little child that's being lied to, and I can see how this increases drug abuse. The zero-tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol under 21 also feels very distopian, and is enforced in a very dogmatic way, without much common sense.