ASHCROFT RECOGNIZES TODAY AS DARE DAY IN MISSOURI

Gov. John Ashcroft has designated today as DARE Day.

DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, a semester-long program that seeks to teach fifth- and sixth-grade students how to resist pressure to experiment with drugs and alcohol. The day is also being recognized as DARE Day nation-wide, with a theme of "Why DARE Makes a Difference."

The DARE program has had great success in Missouri, according to state figures. Last year, 51,000 students in 556 Missouri schools were instructed in the program by 222 DARE officers. The program is offered locally by the Cape Girardeau Police Department and the Scott County Sheriff's Department.

The Scott County Sheriff's Department's DARE program has functioned successfully since January 1990, said Scott County Sheriff Bill Ferrell. At Cape Girardeau, the program, taught by Police Officer Jeannie Dailey, began in January.

Ferrell said he is pleased Ashcroft designated today to honor the program. Deputy Bob Knight, of Scott City, who also serves as a court bailiff, was trained in the DARE curriculum in 1989, he said. Knight received his training, he said, at the Illinois State Police Academy at Springfield before the State of Missouri offered such training.

"We have an aggressive enforcement program underway to arrest dealers, and those who possess and transport controlled substances in this county, but that is only half of the fight," said Ferrell. "We also have to eliminate the market for controlled substances through the education of our young people, and that has to start early."

Knight has taught 325 fifth- and sixth-grade students how to say no to drugs and helped them build their self esteem through DARE training courses in seven public and private schools in Scott County.

"We are proud of our DARE program in Scott County and the fact that we were among the first departments in the area to implement it," Ferrell said. "Deputy Knight has done an outstanding job with the young people in his classrooms, as have others in this department who serve their communities as basketball, baseball, and softball coaches, scout leaders, and supervisors of other youth groups."

DARE training has been received by more than 5 million students in elementary classrooms in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and in American Samoa, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, the state reported.