D.A.R.E. Program Has Been Ineffective; Drug Treatment Programs Are Often Ineffective (From Illegal Drugs, P 96-101, 1998, Charles P. Cozic, ed. - See NCJ-169238)

• NCJ Number: 169254
• Author(s): J Bovard; W J Bennett; J P Walters
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 6 pages
• Sale Source: Greenhaven Press
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC

Annotation

These chapters seek to demonstrate that many drug treatment and drug prevention programs are ineffective.

Abstract

A study by the Research Triangle Institute found that the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) program was less effective than other methods in every category--knowledge and attitudes towards drugs, social skills and drug use itself. Researchers concluded that DARE's limited influence on adolescent drug behavior contrasts with the program's popularity and prevalence. An important implication is that DARE could be taking the place of other, more beneficial drug-use curricula. Federal drug treatment programs are ineffective because: the treatment bureaucracies are wasteful and ineffective and consume more and more of the resources, leaving less and less for services; Federal treatment funds are distributed largely on the basis of population, even though addicts are concentrated in major cities; and there has been no effort to ensure that addicts are placed in appropriate programs. A study of all forms of cocaine treatment disclosed that treatment is only 4 percent effective in reducing heavy use and only 2 percent more effective in reducing heavy use than no treatment at all.