D.A.R.E. is now offered in approximately 80 percent of the nation's school districts and is being taught in 49 other countries. D.A.R.E. is now being taught to over 36 million young people each year. The National School Boards Association, which represents more than 16,000 local school boards, recently, joined forces with D.A.R.E. in its campaign to get D.A.R.E. into every middle school in the U.S.

The Rexburg Police Department currently has four certified D.A.R.E. officers. These officers are involved in teaching the D.A.R.E. curriculum in local schools.

D.A.R.E. is a program where officers teach a curriculum of 10 one hour lessons, at the fifth grade level. These lessons provide information about drugs and teach refusal skills through role playing and other techniques. This proactive policing seeks to stop drug involvement before it starts.

The police officer in the classroom brings the experience from the street to the student. The officer has seen first hand the harm caused by drugs; harm to the people who use them and harm to their family and friends who care about them. This experience is valuable to the students and to their teachers.

Evaluations have shown significant differences between students receiving D.A.R.E. and those who have not, in terms of their drug use and gang involvement. The D.A.R.E. curriculum consistently has been shown to improve skills that help students resist risk-taking behaviors and peer influences that might lead to drug use.