Another District Does the Right Thing -- "Just Say No To DARE"

This time, Suffolk, NJ:

SMITHTOWN, N.Y. (AP) ― Suffolk County's police department is dropping DARE, the widespread school anti-drug program that has faced questions about its effectiveness, the police commissioner said.

Commissioner Richard Dormer said Thursday he aimed to replace DARE with another drug-prevention program, but some local lawmakers objected to the idea.

With the change, set to take effect in January, the large Long Island county's police force will join a series of school districts and law enforcement agencies that have abandoned the program, formally known as Drug Abuse Resistance Education. Schools and police forces work together to offer it.

Full article here. Previous DARE blogging here and here.

DARE to Hope?

Good news out of Florida:

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- The popularity of the DARE anti-drug program for schools extends to the Florida governor's mansion, but that hasn't stopped some officials from recommending that it be removed from the state's budget.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement suggested the annual appropriation of $376,362 be eliminated after Gov. Charlie Crist and legislative leaders asked agencies to propose cuts in their budgets to offset declining state tax revenues.

FDLE officials say they want to drop their role of training local Drug Abuse Resistance Education officers not just to save money, but because national studies show it is ineffective.

Wait. What's that? Its "ineffective"? Since when do we start using empirical evidence for evaluating drug policy expenditures?

Snarky comments aside; this is becoming what you could call a trend with D.A.R.E. Let's hope it continues. Previous D.A.R.E blogging here.

D.A.R.E. Battles Israelis for Mall Kiosk Supremacy

I was accosted by two young ladies while leaving the mall this afternoon. Usually this is a positive thing, and ends with me offering TigerBeat magazines and candy to all, as the girls follow me out to my van. However in this case, they were a bit older and standing in front of a table full of D.A.R.E. merchandise. I walked right by them as they asked if I had ever heard of D.A.R.E. I didn't quite get out the door when I felt Baylen's horsewhip slap my back, and I turned around to find out what we had going on here.

I let the ladies make their short pitch and was told that congress had cut D.A.R.E.'s funding (see here for details) and that D.A.R.E. had hired their marketing firm to sell coffee mugs, shirts, books, etc. for them. I thanked them and wished them luck in collecting the $447 million that was yanked from D.A.R.E.'s budget. That was the extent of the exchange. It would have been nice if some D.A.R.E. official had been there to berate and slap, but it was just the two contracted slobs present and why give them shit? All in all, who really cares (which makes it an excellent subject for a blog post) if D.A.R.E. wants to appeal to the masses for loot. At least I had a choice of walking by, pockets still full.

Coming tomorrow -- More exciting coverage of Rob's lunch hour, location TBA.

P.S. If I'm not responsible for a bump in traffic due to this post, I'll give half my annual salary back to TtP...Baylen. Also, for post title reference, go here.