By Neva Martin Community Editor The Drug Abuse Resistance Education program has received national scrutiny lately. Those involved with the program are looking at new ways to teach its anti-drug message to young people. But local police departments say more officers teaching the upper grades and parent participation are essential parts of the equation. First introduced in Los Angeles in 1983, the DARE program gave police officers the training to enter the classroom and help elementary school students cope with the dangers of drugs, alcohol and tobacco. Jim Richardson of the Kentucky State Police is state coordinator of the DARE program.
Any program has the ability to improve.
Shorter lessons are provided for students in all other grades, from kindergarten through high school. Other DARE programs are provided for parents. In theory it worked out really well. Short term, we were seeing significant changes. A year or so later, he said, some would have started experimenting with drugs, he added.