Most School Anti-Drug Programs Don't Work

Science-based research to date has found that most anti-drug education programs don't reduce the rate at which kids abuse drugs and alcohol.

There's a shocker, eh? But the big news in this LA Times article is that this is now being recognized by many school administrators and educators.

Increasingly, many academic scholars and government researchers agree...One-size-fits-all lessons do little to prepare kids for the real drug choices they're likely to face...By condemning all drugs as bad — not distinguishing between legitimate medications and, in moderation, alcohol — such programs can confuse kids and ultimately cheapen their own messages.

One of the more popular programs - DARE - is also particularly ineffective. This program is usually run out of the local police department. Even though the federal government de-certified DARE several years ago, many schools pay for it out of their own budget. The reason seems obvious, though not discussed in the article: local police departments tend to be very powerful in the community, and tend to get their way when it comes to budget decisions. If you cut out DARE, you cut out at least one policeman's job. Not to mention the legitimacy the program's extreme message gives to police in justifying their anti-narcotics budget and activities.

The article is also a broader lesson in the ubiquity of unsupported social prescriptions. Statements such as "we need to take a preventive approach and help kids as early as possible to stay away from drugs and alcohol," and "it's never too early to tell kids what's healthy and what isn't to put in their bodies" are made without any facts to actually back them up - they just sound good, kind of like "Diversity strengthens us all." It's good to see some people in this field trying to figure out if any of these programs actually work.