usions on its effectiveness in reducing childhood drug abuse.
The DARE program was founded in 1983 by the Los Angeles Police Department, working in conjunction with the city's school district. What was once a city wide program has now become nationwide, with 93% of children who have gone through the 17 week program never trying drugs (Rappleye, 1996).
Rappleye stated that more than 25,000 officers, in 300,000 classrooms, in more than 70% of all school districts, have worked with more than 25 million children in 1995. The primary goals of the program are to provide information about the dangers that surround drug use, and to work with the children to help build self-confidence and develop an optimistic feeling about the future.
The DARE program costs nearly $220 million a year which includes $1.75 million in taxpayer funding (Sager, 2000). Sager also stated that educators and the federal government have recently started a $1 billion five-year taxpayer funded anti-drug advertising campaign.
The current debate associated with the DARE program is whether or not the program is effective in reducing childhood drug abuse. Research that has been conducted to evaluate the program has shown it to be both effective and non-effective in reducing childhood drug abuse.
Rappleye (1996) stated that in 1996, a Gallup survey of DARE graduates showed that 93% of them never tried drugs, 70% never tried alcohol, and 75% never tried cigarettes. More than 90% of the children surveyed gave credit to the DARE program for helping them to avoid drugs and alcohol. They also gave credit to DARE for helping to increase their self-confidence and to deal effectively with peer pressure.
A study conducted by Ohio State University found that high school juniors who had gone through two or more semesters of the DARE program in elementary school were 50% less likely to become heavy drug and alcohol abusers than students who were never expos...