Jeff Sessions Seeks to Revive D.A.R.E.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is pushing to reinstate the nearly defunct D.A.R.E. program, which has been criticized, ridiculed and generally pronounced ineffective.

“D.A.R.E. is, I think, as I indicated, the best remembered anti-drug program today,” Sessions recently told the gathering at D.A.R.E.’s International Training Conference in Grapevine, Texas.

And when Jeff Session says he thinks he remembers something, that’s progress so I guess we should listen.

“In recent years, people have not paid much attention to that message, but they are ready to hear it again,” said Sessions.

They are?

According to D.A.R.E.’s website, the program is “making a comeback” in several communities such as Weymouth, Massachusetts and Lake County, Florida. Why that is classified as a comeback is anyone’s guess.

What has happened in recent year is that D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) has been classified as outdated and, at times, a laughing stock.

One recent example was last year when news stories reported that D.A.R.E. had removed cannabis from its list of gateway drugs.

But, this ended up being a mistake caused by the posting of an automatic news feed on their blog.

While it’s true that D.A.R.E, has strong name recognition—especially among anyone born after 1983 and who remembers representatives visiting their sixth grade classroom with charts, reports and generally frightening and usually erroneous information about drugs—the effectiveness of the program, founded by the late ex-LAPD chief Daryl Gates, has been challenged over the years.

A thorough study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information concluded that “D.A.R.E. is ineffective.”

But, hey, Mr. Sessions, if you say so.

“We know it worked before and we can make it work again,” gushed the attorney general in his remarks at D.A.R.E’s 30th Training Conference.

He assured participants that the Department of Justice would work together with state and local authorities, along with D.A.R.E., to stop drug pushers.

“We need you,” Sessions said. “We need D.A.R.E. to prevent them from finding new victims. We need your strong leadership to deny them new customers.”

We need some strong leadership to stop lying about marijuana. Are you game, Mr. Sessions? The truth shall set you free.