Date: Tue, 1 Aug 1995 22:26:40 -0500
From: [C--ad--H] at [aol.com] (by way of [c--o--n] at [dsmnet.com] (Carl E. Olsen))
Subject: Oakland Says "No" to DARE

PRESS RELEASE

To: Assignment Editor
From: FCDA,  Family Council on Drug Awareness
PO Box 1716, El Cerrito, CA 94530   510-215-8326 * 213-969-1607
 Contact: Chris Conrad Date:  
 Day phone: 510-215-8326 

CITY OF OAKLAND ELIMINATES D.A.R.E. BY UNANIMOUS VOTE

 Oakland, California - After spending more than $600,000 per year without any
significant change in student drug use, the City of Oakland voted unanimously
July 25 to say "no" to D.A.R.E. The City and Police Department agreed at a
Public Safety Committee meeting to defund the controversial program and put
its police officers back on the streets. The program is opposed by community
groups across America for its cost, its secrecy, its inaccuracies, and
reports of increased drug use among students who participate. Before it could
be reconsidered, D.A.R.E. would have to compete for funds with other
curricula that its critics say are more effective. 
 Oakland is the largest community to withdraw from the D.A.R.E. program to
date. A community coalition of family groups, researchers and teachers spoke
at the hearing in support of the change. UC Berkeley professor Joel
Moskowitz, Ph.D., presented and reviewed a thick folio of studies and reports
documenting the ineffectiveness of the program. D.A.R.E. opponents favor
making drug education part of a credible health curriculum designed to
protect young people from abusing hard drugs. 
 "D.A.R.E.'s self-promotion is a free giveaway of bumper stickers, tee
shirts, diplomas, etc.. That creates a strong emotional attachment to this
failed program," said Family Council on Drug Awareness director Chris Conrad.
"All we have available to counter it are scientific facts and our personal
commitment to protect children. In this case, that was enough. The bottom
line is that D.A.R.E. is an expensive program that seems to be making the
situation worse." There are also national reports of police misuse of program
funds, and of officers teaching children to spy on their families and act as
police informants. 
 "A lot of people are uncomfortable with this situation, but it is not easy
to stand up against a program that hands out tax breaks to businesses and
candy to kids to buy their affection and support. The message this action
sends out to concerned parents, teachers and school boards is this: It can be
done. Gather the facts on D.A.R.E., bring your neighbors to the decision
makers and voice your concerns. In Oakland, we found that the community needs
its money to go to programs that really work, and the police department needs
its officers back on the street fighting crime. Those were points that
everyone could agree on."
 Conrad explained that the program's problems are inherent to its approach.
Even the name, D.A.R.E., encourages risk-taking behavior. It reinforces
dangerous attitudes by telling kids that if they try one drug they will go on
to others, rather than help them draw the line. The program is based on scare
tactics, peer pressure, assertiveness training, social stigmas, and other
powerful impulses that are easy to trigger but impossible to control. "Once a
kid learns to 'just say no,' it is just as easy to say no to D.A.R.E. as it
is to say no to drugs,"  Conrad said. "Kids don't need flashy stickers and
slogans. They need qualified guidance."
###