Youth Violence Interventions

Education to Prevent Drug Abuse

The link between drug abuse and violent behavior is well-established. Project DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is the most prevalent school-based drug abuse prevention program in the United States. Unfortunately, there is little evidence that it is effective. A long-term study of the program in 36 schools in Illinois found only limited impact of the program immediately after the intervention, and no evidence of a sustained benefit over time (Ennett 1994). DARE also had no effect on peer resistance skills. Other evaluations of DARE found that the short-term effectiveness of the program is limited, and generally less than the effectiveness associated with more interactive prevention programs (Ennett 1994).