So I’ve seen passing ironic references to DARE in American media representing it as a bit of a joke. That media was intended for American audiences so didn’t really elaborate on what the program entailed but I somehow already knew without any need of such context that it was an anti-drugs public outreach campaign and was able to laugh along having had various similar laughable campaigns aimed at youth in my Australian childhood.
But then on reflection I realised that the whole DARE thing specifically, was familiar to me, like I’d personally experienced it too, but what I remembered was a TV commercial and also seeing it as late as the 2000s. From what I’ve now read about the campaign it seems to have been US-centric and maybe a bit in the UK and based entirely around talks at schools. I went through my fair share of shitty talks at school, but not DARE specifically, but I can’t shake a memory of an ad I swear I remember seeing, in Australia, specifically about use of marijuana, implying that the effects of smoking it aren’t fun or enjoyable and then at the end of the ad having a logo or graphic referring to DARE. But I can’t seem to find any evidence that this, or even any DARE commercials ever existed. It doesn’t help research that we have a brand of bottled Ice Coffee in Australia called Dare who have had lots of high profile ad campaigns so that’s almost entirely what comes up from search results. I found Flinders university (An Australian university) paper about the role of schools in Alcohol education which talks about DARE and its utter inefficacy but seems to be referring to the American context and specifically about alcohol. So doesn’t really prove anything.
From what little I remember about the ad it was focussing on the fact that marijuana can give you an increased heartbeat and feelings of paranoia and trying to imply that this was somehow something that always happens and is the only effect of smoking it. Had some sort of tagline like ‘there’s nothing fun about marijuana’ or some similar idiocy.
I don’t know if it will help with your search but the UK equivalent (at least where I grew up) was not DARE but SNAP, which stood for Say No And Phone. It was your usual anti drugs propaganda encouraging people to snitch on others when offered drugs as well.
It wasn’t pushed super hard as I only remember a couple of intentionally disingenuous talks full of lies and scare tactics and a few “discos” that pushed the same bs. I don’t ever remember anything about it on TV and I get the impression our anti drug propaganda was a lot more half hearted than the US equivalent DARE.
This was in the late 90s and early 00s.
They definitely went hard on the propaganda in the US in the 80’s and 90’s but it was all a big joke to us. I remember a whole stage production when I was in high school (and already old enough to be experimenting with drugs) where they used slang terms so outdated, it was unintentional comedy.
You know, I think I might actually be remembering FRANK ads from the UK and not Australia. I’m not totally convinced it was this one but I think this was at least, one of them from a campaign I’m recalling and it’s very much of the style I remember, plus cutting to a campaign graphic at the end which is an acronym. If it was this one, they were a little more honest about it than I recalled, acknowledging the pleasant effects but warning of the potential negative effects you could encounter.
I was reading your response knowing I definitely remember the whole “Talk to frank” campaign but couldn’t recall any of the adverts. That one I definitely remember as soon as it started though!
I think the SNAP one I mentioned was a precursor to the frank campaign and was a lot more negative leaning than this. At least this acknowledges that it isn’t all negative, still fucking pathetic that this country still won’t legally let me go and buy my fucking weed though.
Remember when the conservative government commissioned a study in to the effects of cannabis and also recommendations for what the legal status should be and the findings were that it was basically minimally harmful, less so than alcohol and shouldn’t be on it’s current scheduled drug status? And then that government declared their own study wrong and didn’t change a thing and kept persecuting people for nothing?
I do, also funny how conservative government affiliates and past if not present family members own the largest cannabis farms within the UK. It is almost as if they have other motives too…
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