A sociology professor of mine worked her first job for Rand. Her assignment was to determine the effectiveness of DARE. She found that it was only effective on eighth grade boys. Rand thanked her, paid her, and shelved the report, because this was the Reagan era.

DARE in wikipedia...
"...In 2002, D.A.R.E. had an annual budget of over $10 million..."
"...in 2012. The new program is called "Keepin' it REAL" and focuses less on lectures and more on interactive activities, such as practicing refusal and saying no to pressure.[9] It is now less explicitly focused on opposition to drugs, with the broader aim of teaching good decision-making..."

It brings in money, so of course they're keeping it alive. They're trying to rebrand it, supposedly helping kids avoid standard teen stuff like suicide, etc. They had a table set up outside of Walgreens a while back. They were well-trained and aggressive, but I've spent a lifetime in sales, much of it training people for that same kind of bullshit, so I have no problem blowing them off. Politely, I'm not a monster, but...No thanks.

Sounds like it is exactly doing what it should. Give the police more to do in the future.

Oh, sweet summer child, you thought they were actually trying to reduce drug use?