# Did anyone here go through the D.A.R.E. program, and if so what effect did it have? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 22, 2009, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104 "2009-09-22T17:35:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/21 "2009-09-23T14:25:39Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > My first two years of college, I smoked pot nearly **every** day. > > Now I’m 23 and I don’t really do \*\*anything anymore \*\*except drink beer. Its true. Pot does turn you into a slacker ! ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/22 "2009-09-23T15:20:03Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > My friends and I were just talking a few weeks ago about how the anti-drug education we got as kids in the 80’s and 90’s was in a way more like “how to buy drugs” education - I can give you, like, twelve street names for heroin, which is really helpful on _The Wire_ at least. I have been saying for years that the only thing D.A.R.E. taught me was the right words to use when buying drugs 😃 Even at 11 or 12 it stank of propagandist BS to me. No one I ever knew had ever seen the nefarious, cartoonish “drug dealer” the officers described, and WTF drug dealer would spend their time hanging around a school? How many twelve-year-olds have the funds to support a heroin habit? It seemed absurd to me, yet here were the local cops insisting it was true. That kind of thing effectively negated any inclination whatsoever that I might have had to accept anything else that followed. Also the fact that they lumped all drugs together without distinction for kind or degree screamed “patronizing adult nonsense”. I smoked my first cigarette out of curiosity, I swiped one from my mom’s pack and just wanted to see what it was like. Helpfully, she smoked expensive ultra-lights so it was a rather pleasant first smoking experience (unlike most of my friends, who swiped packs from a convenience store which handily kept them at pocket-level like the owners wanted kids to swipe smokes. They were cheapass non-filters). I tried pot as soon as I could get my hands on some. Beyond that I experimented here and there, but always having done a hefty amount of research on the substance and its likely effects, side effects, use and dosage amounts. Throughout high school and college I tried a little bit of everything just for the adventure/experience of it. Honestly, I think if I had felt like the information I was given was truthful and accurate, I might have been less inclined to find out for myself… but the instant I confirmed my belief that what they’d said about cigarettes, alcohol, and pot was a bunch of BS, the game was on. Thinking back on it now, it seems to me very much like the difference between today’s abstinence-only sex ed, and a comprehensive, medically accurate, risk-reduction-based education. Kids aren’t stupid, they know when they’re being fed a bunch of propaganda to keep them well-behaved. Fuck that noise, I want facts so I can make my own decisions. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/23 "2009-09-23T15:48:53Z")
> [@NajaNivea](#): > > I have been saying for years that the only thing D.A.R.E. taught me was the right words to use when buying drugs 😃 > Even at 11 or 12 it stank of propagandist BS to me. No one I ever knew had ever seen the nefarious, cartoonish “drug dealer” the officers described, and WTF drug dealer would spend their time hanging around a school? How many twelve-year-olds have the funds to support a heroin habit? It seemed absurd to me, yet here were the local cops insisting it was true. That kind of thing effectively negated any inclination whatsoever that I might have had to accept anything else that followed. Also the fact that they lumped all drugs together without distinction for kind or degree screamed “patronizing adult nonsense”. > I smoked my first cigarette out of curiosity, I swiped one from my mom’s pack and just wanted to see what it was like. Helpfully, she smoked expensive ultra-lights so it was a rather pleasant first smoking experience (unlike most of my friends, who swiped packs from a convenience store which handily kept them at pocket-level like the owners wanted kids to swipe smokes. They were cheapass non-filters). I tried pot as soon as I could get my hands on some. Beyond that I experimented here and there, but always having done a hefty amount of research on the substance and its likely effects, side effects, use and dosage amounts. Throughout high school and college I tried a little bit of everything just for the adventure/experience of it. Honestly, I think if I had felt like the information I was given was truthful and accurate, I might have been less inclined to find out for myself… but the instant I confirmed my belief that what they’d said about cigarettes, alcohol, and pot was a bunch of BS, the game was on. > > Thinking back on it now, it seems to me very much like the difference between today’s abstinence-only sex ed, and a comprehensive, medically accurate, risk-reduction-based education. Kids aren’t stupid, they know when they’re being fed a bunch of propaganda to keep them well-behaved. Fuck that noise, I want facts so I can make my own decisions. Dude, the point of the program is not to literally DARE you to do drugs. Actually high school had one program that was effective. They brought in a former student who was a know pot-head (and somewhat of a jerkoff as well). Basically he gave a talk about how he spent all his time doing drugs and drinking and now couldn’t even get into community college and was working at the mall. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/24 "2009-09-23T16:00:56Z")
I was our school’s DARE representative - went to state-wide events and all that kind of stuff. I was serious about it at the time - badgering my dad to spot smoking, convinced I’d never touch drugs. Now I smoke and drink and am much more open minded about drugs than I used to be anyway. All in all it wasn’t very effective in the long run. It was too vague in general. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/25 "2009-09-23T16:24:12Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Dude, the point of the program is not to literally DARE you to do drugs. That’s… pretty much precisely the effect it had on me. What they’d said about cigarettes, alcohol, and pot was a load of bullshit. They told us even bigger lies about hallucinogens, opiates, and stimulants. How much more fun could they be? It turns out: a lot. 😃 > [@](#): > > Actually high school had one program that was effective. They brought in a former student who was a know pot-head (and somewhat of a jerkoff as well). Basically he gave a talk about how he spent all his time doing drugs and drinking and now couldn’t even get into community college and was working at the mall. I am totally down with this. I had one high school teacher who gave me the only effective “drug lecture” I ever received. He said “you know, if you smoke too much of it, it makes you lazy”. Fair enough. Those stupid anti-drug commercials that ran for a while were in the same asinine vein as the DARE program (smoke pot and you’ll _microwave a baby!!!_), but there were a few that basically made the point that if all you do is smoke pot and lay around on the couch, life passes you by. That’s a message that should get out. You aren’t going to be nuking any infants, but you’re not gonna find yourself summitting any mountains, either. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/26 "2009-09-23T16:43:22Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > I still remember the damned song they made us sing. Gah! Me too…this would have been around 1994. We spent every music class session for about six weeks working on this song . **ZipperJJ** , our D.A.R.E. officer later became our “school resource officer” as well. When I went through the program (5th and 6th grades) there was a very heavy emphasis on lumping alcohol in with illegal drugs. I recognized that as a load of bull – by that point, I was familiar with my dad’s favorite brand of whiskey, and my mother’s favorite wines; how was that anywhere near as bad as drug dealing? I was involved with the program again in high school (1999-2000) as a “peer tutor” for the 6th grade class. I remember an increased emphasis on tobacco and caffeine at that point. The tobacco I can understand, but caffeine? It wasn’t even presented in the context of “hey, don’t drink so much soda!” At that time, they also had kids from the high school come over to speak to the 6th graders about the importance of “staying clean”. The kids they selected ranged from overly sheltered to mild partiers. (Incidentally, the 6th graders I worked with didn’t seem to care very much; I recall several of them having their workbooks confiscated, and being made to sit in the “quiet area” away from the class during D.A.R.E. time.) ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/27 "2009-09-24T00:07:31Z")
I went through it in 6th grade (1997). It was boring, other than the day that we got to play with the lights and sirens on the police car, and the time the officer brought a police dog. It had precisely no effect on my desire to do drugs. It did not at any point keep me from drinking. By the age of 10 or 11, kids are aware of the Menace of Drugs, and are for the most part smart enough to know that A) smoking a joint once will not kill me nor destroy my life and B) dad smoking a Marlboro after dinner is not in any way the same as him going out to a crack house after dinner to score. [It doesn’t work](http://www.drugpolicy.org/library/factsheets/dare/index.cfm): at best it’s completely ineffective, but there have also been studies showing DARE grads have a _higher_ rate of drug use later in life. My DARE officer was - years later - suspended for having inappropriate sexual contact with a 16-year-old girl. While on duty. I knew it was him because at home I still had the baseball-style card of him that he gave out. Apparently the local police force has nothing better to do than make baseball cards of themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/28 "2009-09-24T16:51:18Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > We didn’t have DARE here, but we did have a principal who told us that he can’t stop us from doing drugs, but he can give us information about said drugs and how to safely use them. And that, my friends, is where I learned to tap all the air out of the syringe before injecting! Please tell me this is a whoosh. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/29 "2009-09-24T20:49:19Z")
Anyone still have their D.A.R.E t-shirts? ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/30 "2009-09-24T22:44:08Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > Anyone still have their D.A.R.E t-shirts? No, but I do have my D.A.R.E. ruler, and my D.A.R.E. pencil sharpener. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/31 "2009-09-24T22:47:29Z")
I never did DARE, but the “Just Say No” stuff of the early '80’s had a strong effect on me. I rarely drink (maybe every other month, I’ll have a drink or two, and maybe every 3 or 4 of those I’ll actually get drunk)…I can count the number of times I’ve smoked pot on one hand…and the number of times I’ve done other stuff (acid, X) the same. However, I have never (and will never) done any physically addictive illegal drug. While I know intellectually that there is not always a direct, straight line between 1. Taking the first sniff/shot of whatever -\> 2. Addiction -\> 3. Prostituting oneself for drugs -\> 4. Dying of an overdose in a gutter Emotionally, I can’t let go of the “fact” that 1 will lead inexoriably to 4. Which I blame very specifically on Nancy Reagan. (Please note that, as referred to above, illegal drugs which are not addictive on a physical level don’t seem to trigger this reaction, nor does alcohol, a legal physically addictive drug.) Crazy, huh? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/32 "2009-09-24T22:55:52Z")
D.A.R.E didn’t exist yet when I went through school, but we did get occasional anti-drug presentations and films (they still had films then). They had no effect on anyone. I saw D.A.R.E. presentations pretty regularly when I was a teacher, and generally had to bite my tongue. I don’t believe they had any influence at all, though. ---
**Author:** ![tygre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c4cdca/32.png) [@tygre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tygre)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/33 "2009-09-25T00:00:02Z")
One of my undergrad professors worked on a study done by UIC that showed DARE’s ineffectiveness. I read the studies and found them interesting – it does make sense that if they present the cool effects, kids will ignore the risks! I never took the program: I was in middle school when it was introduced, so I was too old. My sister did take it, and does not drink nor use drugs, but she’s kind of a stick in the mud anyways. ---
**Author:** ![tesseract](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@tesseract](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tesseract)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/34 "2009-09-25T07:34:40Z")
Drugs Are Really Expensive. I can’t remember, what does it actually stand for? ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/35 "2009-09-25T09:19:05Z")
I went through DARE in 6th grade. I remember exactly three things from that class: #1 smoke crack once and you’ll become addicted to it #2 when the police officer who taught the class passed around his gun, after being pestered on a daily basis for the first month #3 we actually had a DARE Dance. As if, WTF? AND a GRADUATION from DARE. Man, they made a HUGE deal about that. 20 years later…well, I’ve been drug free for the last 6 months, but mainly because I haven’t found a reliable source for LSD. Now, my high school’s health class, I remember. They just flat out lied to us. If there’s anything that WOULD make me start doing more drugs, it’s knowing that pretty much everything I got shoved down my throat about them is a total fabrication which was just trying to scare us straight. I mean, honestly, until a couple years ago I thought that marijuana and LSD actually COULD directly kill you!!! ---
**Author:** ![ColdPhoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@ColdPhoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColdPhoenix)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/36 "2009-09-25T10:08:17Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > The only thing I got out of it was I signed up to be part of sting operations to bust people selling tobacco to minors and they paid me $20 to sign up and I never heard from them again. > > For the record I use tobacco… Did you use the $20 to buy cigs? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/37 "2009-09-25T14:49:53Z")
I had DARE for three years, in the early 90s. There was a lot of propaganda that didn’t have much effect, but there was also some fairly educational stuff. I remember more than once the officer came in with his suitcase of drugs (presumably drug lookalikes) so we could see what crack, pot, coke, etc looked like. We also learned what the effects of each drug were supposed to be, street names, etc. For some reason we learned a lot about some obscure drugs I don’t know of anyone using, like PCP and barbiturates. But I guess crystal meth and ecstacy were not popular yet(?) so they weren’t covered. I don’t think it affected me either way as far as using, but if I had been inclined to use, I guess the information might have helped me do so more safely. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/38 "2009-09-25T16:42:44Z")
> [@tygre](#): > > One of my undergrad professors worked on a study done by UIC that showed DARE’s ineffectiveness. I read the studies and found them interesting – it does make sense that if they present the cool effects, kids will ignore the risks! My brother went to school for Policy Analysis. DARE was used as an example of an ineffective program. Data shows it is not effective at preventing drug use but is effective at getting funding. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/39 "2009-09-25T16:59:40Z")
> [@tesseract](#): > > Drugs Are Really Expensive. I can’t remember, what does it actually stand for? Drug Abuse Resistance Education. ---
**Author:** ![Words\_on\_the\_Interweb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b19c9b/32.png) [@Words\_on\_the\_Interweb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Words_on_the_Interweb)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104/40 "2009-09-25T17:38:31Z")
I remember elementary and middle-school DARE classes in the mid-late 80’s, but reading “Go Ask Alice” at age 13-14 did more for my avoidance of drug-usage than DARE or parental advice. I didn’t want to end up addicted and completely wasted, so I primarily avoided “hardcore” drugs, except for a couple incidents of experimentation. Plus, that whole thing about cocaine destroying the inside of your nose so you could pass a chain from one nostril to the other, that was a bit of a turnoff. I think DARE would be more successful if it were more realistic and less [cartoony](http://www.dare.com/kids/index_3.htm); stark reality was a hell of a lot more effective for me than an animated lion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-anyone-here-go-through-the-d-a-r-e-program-and-if-so-what-effect-did-it-have/511104.md?page=3)