How D.A.R.E. you!

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During a time when fiscal responsibility is absolutely necessary for our schools, I question how responsible the Princeton Elementary School Board is acting by setting aside $10,000 for the Drug Abuse Resistance Education Program (D.A.R.E.). Numerous studies have shown that D.A.R.E. has little to no positive effect on drug use among adolescents. One study even found an increase in drug abuse among students of the D.A.R.E. program. A different study showed a positive effect that researchers would be willing to describe as “a small positive effect,” only if it had been 20 times larger. Yet another study found an increase of cigarette and alcohol abuse and neither an increase nor decrease on marijuana abuse. While the program has the best intentions, it simply has not proven effective time and time again. With one study indicating that “D.A.R.E. had no long-term effects on a wide range of drug use,” I believe the school board could use this money much more effectively elsewhere in the budget.

Matt Schafer

Princeton