DRUG ABUSE RESISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAM
(D.A.R.E.)
Act 148 of the Third Extraordinary Session of 1994 made provisions for the first State funding of the D.A.R.E. program. This annual funding stream of approximately $4,000,000 from a legislative appropriation in the state's general fund continued until ___ when a permanent source of revenue was generated from the proceeds of a one (1) cent tax per pack of cigarettes (also approximately $4,000,000 annually).
In response to the mounting concern about the use of drugs by youth, the LCLE offers grants to sheriff's offices and police departments who can demonstrate the capacity to deliver the D.A.R.E. program in accordance with the national model. D.A.R.E. is a substance abuse prevention program designed to equip school children with skills for resisting peer pressure to experiment with tobacco, drugs, and alcohol. This program uses uniformed law enforcement officers to teach formal curriculum to students in a classroom setting. Law Enforcement officers must become certified by completing the required D.A.R.E. training offered through a certified D.A.R.E. training center. Grant funds are utilized to pay officer's salaries, fringe benefits and classroom supplies and to support the state D.A.R.E. Training Center.