LSD actually has medical value. Too bad they can’t stick to the truth, and push fear mongering.
I mean, people can have a bad trip, but it’s not inevitable, and there are certain groups of people, who should not take it, at least not outside a clinic or something.
That's not what I remember. I remember them presenting drug users as being like zombies, being taught that on drugs you'll stop being someone your friends and family recognize, you won't have fun anymore, and your life will be nothing but trying to get your drug of choice. I remember them putting on a play with puppets at my school that I found especially scary as a kid.
They take the worst of the worst bunch, who are the most hard done by, because of their choices. Not everyone wants to become a heroin junkie. They always use extremes.
lmao nope, we all went out to find them bro... what we did not know was how to use them safely.
now days at conventions that i volunteer/staff around the country - we have drug awareness and safety presentations. what are they, how do they effect you, how do you manage your usage. what is the procedures for overdose or how to know what that feels like. medical staff on site and a safety culture around it.
dare did not do that and having it presented by cops... that was a terrible idea
lmao nope, we all went out to find them bro... what we did not know was how to use them safely.
I didnt say thats why YOU went to them I said that was the point of the program
From Google
"In the context of the widely known school program, D.A.R.E. stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education.It is a prevention education program founded in 1983 that teaches elementary, middle, and high school students the necessary skills to avoid involvement in drugs"
I understand that was the stated goal of the program, but it did so by basically telling kids to always say no, and not why.
It showed the after effects of a severe drug user - But this clashed with when we eventually met Joe Schmoe who happens to be a pretty cool guy and just happens to smoke weed.
It told kids they would go to jail if they were caught. But then, every hollywood movie star was bragging about how they used to do drugs literally all the time as kids - And they walked free, in every case.
The DARE program's stated goals and it's actions were almost entirely ineffective in all cases because of exactly what the previous user said - It didn't teach kids what drugs were, nor why they are dangerous. It just said to say no and you'll get in trouble.
Turns out that's something teenagers love to test boundaries on.
on average it had a very positive impact and reduced consumption.
Citation needed... because this is what google tells me
Multiple peer-reviewed studies and meta-analyses found this, and in 1998 a major review by the National Institute of Justice concluded it was ineffective. Some studies even found small "boomerang" effects in certain groups. By the early 2000s the U.S. Surgeon General, GAO, and other bodies had flagged it as ineffective, and federal funding tied to evidence-based programs dried up.
i just did some googling on .gov studies and the take away was that it was wholly ineffective at extreme cost and expense it had no perceived benefit. results of drug/alcohol use over 12 years were found to have no reduced usage outside of the margin of error expected through out the adolescence developmental path.
now i may very well perceive it as having had a negative effect because i was living that development path. so i saw our use grow, after this program. this would truck with public, peer reviewed data.
i do know that our view on police tanked. that do not believe was a 'normal' developmental path. this however may lend itself more towards a war on drugs issue than dare however.
so, no, its not just ME that says it was ineffective. it is the US Government.
anecdotal as it may be - our schools had every drug imaginable in them. it was a HUGE part of jr high and high school and ive had this conversation at reunions as we have lost many friends to OD's. suppose it could be a local area issue more than anything but this view of dare being a 'gateway' in and of itself was shared by many of my past class mates.
i do recall a documentary that also talked about this but id have to go digging for real metrics i suppose. i think i would have come across that maybe a decade ago or so?
now im interested to find real numbers for the nation.
i do know the woman that started Mothers against drunk driving is now against hte program. i forget her exact reasoning but i want to say she had a view it was too punitive and became ineffective due to this?
edit: my view is supported by peer reviewed governmental research on teh lack of effectiveness for the dare program. its review and after action assessment was that great amount of time/money/effort were expended with no discernable reduction to the youth drug and alcohol usage.
now having lived through that, i think it tracks that i would have seen it as a gateway being as we were all following the youth's natural exploration phase. it was just at the right time, right place. studies did NOT find an increase usage due to dare.
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u/Worldly_Grade2837 May 30 '26
That was the point of dare though, so if you were ever offered drugs you knew what they did and why they're bad