New DARE Program Keeps Kids Off Drugs

Re “Will Bratton Keep His Vow?” editorial, Oct. 28, in which you mistakenly characterize DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) as a failure and recommend that incoming Chief William Bratton not support it, I would point to the latest research findings on the new DARE program. The University of Akron and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation just recently released initial results from the most comprehensive drug prevention evaluation ever undertaken.

The findings show improvements in students’ decision-making skills, drug refusal skills and belief that drug use is socially inappropriate.

What is most exciting is the fact that the new DARE curriculum performed better compared with control-group schools that offered other drug education programs.

I would hope that your newspaper will report these findings and support prevention and education efforts, which are the long-term solutions to the drug abuse and gang violence problems in our community.

Charlie J. Parsons

Executive Director

DARE America

Los Angeles