Drug Abuse Resistance Education

US anti-drug educational program

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Key Takeaways

Drug Abuse Resistance Education , or D.
It was founded in Los Angeles in 1983 under the direction of LAPD chief Daryl Gates.
The program was most prominent in the 1980s and 1990s.
was found in 75% of American school districts and was funded by the US government.
sought to educate children on how to resist peer pressure to take drugs.

Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or D.A.R.E., is an education program aimed to prevent the misuse of controlled drugs, membership in gangs, and violent behavior. It was founded in Los Angeles in 1983 under the direction of LAPD chief Daryl Gates. Its goal was to reduce the demand for illicit drugs as part of the broader American war on drugs.

The program was most prominent in the 1980s and 1990s. At the height of its popularity, D.A.R.E. was found in 75% of American school districts and was funded by the US government. The program consists of police officers who make visits to elementary school classrooms, warning children that drugs are harmful and should be refused. D.A.R.E. sought to educate children on how to resist peer pressure to take drugs. It also denounced alcohol, tobacco, graffiti, and tattoos as the results of peer pressure.

A series of scientific studies in the 1990s and 2000s cast doubt on the effectiveness of D.A.R.E., with some studies concluding the program was harmful or counterproductive. Years after its effectiveness was cast into doubt, the program remained popular among politicians and many members of the public, in part because of a common intuition that the program ought to work. Eventually, in the early 2000s, funding for the program was greatly reduced.

The program distributed T-shirts and other items branded with the D.A.R.E. logo and with anti-drug messages. These items were repurposed by drug culture as ironic statements starting in the 1990s.

Its American headquarters are in Inglewood, California. D.A.R.E. expanded to the United Kingdom in 1995. The program's mascot is Daren the Lion.