The Ohio Study

More than 30 independent studies have substantiated the effectiveness of DARE as a drug and violence prevention strategy. Among the most recent is an evaluation by Ohio State University involving more than 3,000 11th grade students from Ohio; comparing the risks for drug abuse and violence between those who had taken DARE and those who had never participated in the program. The results were definitive, with 73% of the DARE students falling into the low-risk group as compared to 58% of non-DARE students.

The prestigious Journal for School Health has accepted Professor Joseph F. Donnermeyer's latest research on the DARE program for publication. The results from this major new study at Ohio State University found that DARE works - DARE makes a positive difference in students' attitudes and behavior in the use of alcohol and drugs.

Dr. Donnermeyer's careful and meticulous research is the first study to examine the complete DARE program. This rigorous study selected 11th grade students as the study population because they were old enough to have been confronted with opportunities to use alcohol, marijuana and hard drugs. In addition, some students of this age had the opportunity to participate in the full DARE program - elementary, junior and senior high. This is ground- breaking research, because this study surveyed students that had completed the entire DARE program as it was originally designed - K through 12.

DARE did positively influence 11th grade students' attitudes and behaviors about substance use. The differences reported were all statistically significant, and in a positive direction. DARE reduced substance use, increased peer resistance, encouraged communication with parents and other responsible adults, and increased positive views of police. According to the findings, DARE plays an important role in supporting families, positive peer groups, and communities in order to raise healthy, responsible youth.

This recent study concluded that, "11th grade students who had been through DARE at the elementary level, and had received one or more reinforcements by participating in either a junior high or senior high school DARE program, or both, showed the lowest level of drug involvement" (Donnermeyer & Phillips, 1995). This study has successfully passed "peer-review" and was published in the Journal for School Health in April, 1998.