Drug Abuse Resistance Education ("D.A.R.E.") was created in 1983 to teach children from kindergarten through high school that popularity, self-worth, and self-confidence are not attained by submitting to negative peer pressure and destructive temptation. Every week for 17 weeks, D.A.R.E. sends a specially trained police officer into the classrooms of fifth and sixth grade students to teach the students not only why they should refuse drugs and alcohol, but also how to do so. The D.A.R.E. program follows a carefully structured curriculum, focusing on topics such as personal safety, drug use and misuse, resisting peer pressure, building self-esteem, role models and support systems. Through their participation in the D.A.R.E. program at an age when they are most vulnerable to social pressure, the children establish the foundation for a healthy and productive lifestyle.

On June 15, 1999 over 2,000 sixth grade students in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District will have successfully completed the D.A.R.E. program. In celebration, the Newport Beach and Costa Mesa Police Departments, in conjunction with the school district, hosted a "D.A.R.E. FAIR" which provided entertainment, refreshments and positive recreational activities for these sixth graders.

Links for more information on D.A.R.E. related topics:

D.A.R.E. America

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

National Institute on Drug Abuse

National Youth Gang Center