Drug Abuse Resistance  Education (DARE), a zero tolerance drug education program, admitted what numerous studies have already shown - that it isn’t working. Despite heavy criticism, DARE is currently taught in 80 percent of school districts nationwide, reaching some 36 million American children.

Critics say it’s time for a fundamental change in educational focus - from simplistic lectures about abstinence to honest, realistic discussions about safety.

Most recently the National Academy of Sciences and the surgeon general have issued reports documenting DARE’s failure. This summer, Salt Lake City mayor Rocky Anderson eliminated DARE from Salt Lake City schools citing its ineffectiveness. The Department of Education said it would no longer allow schools to spend grants from its office of safe and drug-free schools on DARE because the department does not consider it scientifically effective.

DARE officials now admit that its zero tolerance “just say know” approach to drug education has not worked. Dr. Herbert Kleber, the head of DARE’s scientific advisory panel told the New York Times, “Our feeling was, after looking at the prevention movement, we were not having enough of an impact.” The new strategy is in response to research criticizing DARE’s simplistic message and tendency to exaggerate the prevalence of drug use. Now DARE will be taught in seventh grade rather than fifth grade and it will focus on changing “social norms” among students. Police officers are still involved in DARE, although now they will serve more as “facilitators” and will encourage “more complex reasoning behind decisions and actions.”

Despite these changes, many are wary that without a more substantial shift in its approach, the new DARE will also fail. Critics say a successful drug education strategy must acknowledge that no matter how strenuous the parental warnings, some teens will still experiment with drugs - and that all teens are safer when armed with accurate, honest information about the real risks associated with different drugs, legal and illegal. Such an approach, advocates say, puts "safety first" in much the same way as many parents do around the issue of drinking: while strongly urging teens not to drink, recognizing that if they choose to anyway, they should 1) know how alcohol affects the body, 2) be around people they can trust, and 3) call anytime, day or night, rather than drive drunk.