COSTA MESA : False Rumor on End of Drug Program

It all started when the PTA president at Sonora Elementary School heard a rumor that a popular anti-drug program might be cancelled. Carol Whitman sent letters home with 500 children, urging parents to show their support for the program.

Parents flooded the school, the Police Department and City Hall with letters. Trouble is, the rumor about the demise of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program turned out to be false.

“Believe me, we love DARE,” said Costa Mesa Police Chief David L. Snowden. “The program is alive and well. I have no idea how this rumor got started. There’s absolutely no chance of it being cancelled. It’s a very successful program.”

PTA President Carol Whitman said she is a little embarrassed about the mistake, but added it was encouraging that so many parents responded to the letter.

“We got more support from our parents at Sonora on this program than we’ve ever had on any other issue,” Whitman said. Sending the letters home with students cost the PTA about $30, she said.

Snowden said the DARE program, which started in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District last fall, costs $190,000 a year and is slated to run indefinitely.

The DARE program employs two full-time officers who travel to 14 different schools on a regular basis throughout the year talking to youngsters about drugs.

“It’s probably the most positive anti-drug program for kids that I’ve seen in my 16 years with the Costa Mesa Police Department as far as its impact on kids,” said Dan Hoag, one of the officers involved in the program. “It reinforces the values they are taught at home and has allowed them to look at drugs from a different perspective.”