Has D.A.R.E. Come Around to Cannabis?

Here’s a throwback for most of you – Remember the days of grade school, sitting through D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education)? All across the country, the model was generally the same: a police officer who works for an anti-drug division would come to your classroom. . .

. . . and try to scare you into not doing drugs. Otherwise, you’d end up homeless on the streets, shooting and snorting within just a week. Now do you recall D.A.R.E.’s biggest nemesis being marijuana? Just like Reefer Madness back in 1936, they said cannabis was the ultimate gateway drug ruining young kids’ lives? Well, at the end of February it seemed that the anti-drug program ‘quietly’ removed pot from their webpage dedicated to gateway drugs. . .or so it seemed.

A reporter recently reached out to D.A.R.E. to try and figure out their new stance on cannabis. The result was (drumroll please) they actually had not even had marijuana on their ‘gateway drug’ page since 2013. Hold the applause though. A quick glance at their website reveals posts articles with outrageous claims against the use of medical or recreational cannabis, despite the huge movement towards legalization in United States. So much for a change in heart! It seems D.A.R.E. is still sticking to their never-ending opposition. ..for now.