Given my age, I of course went through D.A.R.E. It’s been a while, but all I remember were the cops creating outlandish fictional scenarios and then seeing if we’d do as told.
This is a very interesting look into the program’s history.
DARE was the 80s and 90s’ version of reefer madness, with a heavy dose of “fear us” thrown in by cops. It was the early entry point into the right-wing anti-black, anti-poor media pipeline. Reagan himself was a huge proponent of it. It even in its official implementation guide encouraged using kids to snitch on their parents or friends.
Totally off topic, but a reefer to me means a refrigerated trailer. This after “refer” (pronounced identically) at papers meant a teaser to an inside story. On occasion, this would turn into refer madness.
