"In the battle against illicit drugs, we've turned the corner." These were the words voiced this week by Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala as she and the National Drug Czar, General Barry McCaffrey, released the results of the annual HHS National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.
The survey, which is one of the very few credible national measures of drug abuse, reports a statistically significant decline of 13 percent in teen drug abuse during 1998. Now, it's time to set the record straight. D.A.R.E., the prevention education program that teaches children to avoid illicit drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and violence, has played a key role in the overall national strategy which has helped enable America to reach this important milestone.
Community efforts have also played a key role, as has the vital role of individual parents and family members who each day, at home and at work, make this their highest priority. The common denominator to the collective efforts of the team - government, law enforcement, health care providers, religious organizations, and families - is education. And while there are many worthwhile prevention programs, none has successfully touched more young people in America than D.A.R.E.
Today, the D.A.R.E. program is taught in more than 80 percent of all school districts throughout the United States benefiting 26 million students this year alone. Clearly, D.A.R.E. has played a pivotal role in helping reverse the direction of teen drug use in America.
The D.A.R.E. sequential curriculum is in its ninth generation of improvement and, more important, it is the only prevention program that includes elementary, middle, and high schools. Thus students receive vital reinforcement of the principles necessary to provide them the knowledge and skills to avoid not only drugs--but also alcohol, tobacco, and violence.
D.A.R.E. is not a government program. It is implemented at the local level at the request of parents, school districts, and law enforcement. Over 10,000 communities have D.A.R.E. in place, and each month, scores of communities initiate or expand the D.A.R.E. Program.
We realize that D.A.R.E. is not a panacea for the multifaceted epidemic of drug abuse--there is no silver bullet. Nor do we claim that D.A.R.E. is solely responsible for this recent significant and encouraging decline in drug usage by our youth. D.A.R.E. is, however, a vital component of a comprehensive solution that includes caring parents and strong community partnerships.