AIKEN - Using drug education as a prevention method has always been a mantra of law enforcement. But the effectiveness of previous programs has caused officers to question what's really best.

The DARE program, or Drug Abuse Resistance Education, that grew to popularity in the 1990s has slowly faded from area fifth-grade classrooms.

Though North Augusta Public Safety and the Richmond County Sheriff's Office still hand out the red and black T-shirts for completing the 10-week program, other agencies have cut it altogether in favor of other options.

The Aiken County Sheriff's Office and Aiken Public Safety say they have found that DARE isn't effective for the adult situations that pupils face in middle and high school.

"We stopped teaching the DARE program about 10 years ago; it was just a change of time in society," said Pete Frommer, the director of Aiken County Public Safety. "We always kind of looked at the DARE program as a way to have interaction with officers at an early age."

When the program was cut, public safety supplemented outreach services with an athletic league.

The sheriff's office didn't completely abandon drug prevention education. Instead, it revamped its program to reach eighth through 12th grades.

"When we looked at our decision to continue DARE, one of the reasons we cut it was because we didn't have any tools to really measure if it was doing any good," said Sgt. Steve Deibel, a former DARE instructor with the sheriff's office. "The benefit for us was we had the relationship with the kids. Did we keep them off drugs? My officers knew many of those were arrested for possession in high school and junior high."

THE COUNTY NOW visits schools once a year and builds on drug education from the previous year. The hope is that by the time students graduate from high school they are familiar with not just the dangers of marijuana but also the harm caused by club drugs and methamphetamine.

"Everybody gets the same information at the same time; it's about an hour-and-a-half for that year. But we go right back into schools the next year and constantly update information to keep their attention," he said.

The school district has backed the county's decision to cut the program. Now, students and school resource officers interact on a more daily basis and prevention education is mixed with awareness weeks, such as Red Ribbon Week.

"Statistically if they know what they're looking at, they'll make a more informed decision," Sgt. Deibel said. "Especially those in that 12-to-17 age range."

The city of North Augusta has stuck by the DARE program because surveys of those in the program show knowledge gained.

Officer Tom Rogers said he believes his DARE work is the No. 1 community service in the area.

"For 20 years before I did this, I worked criminal investigations. I got into this to help people from getting involved in (drugs) beforehand, and I believe I'm doing a whole lot more crime-fighting than I've ever done," he said.

Though there are many drug-education methods, no one program tracks students to see whether they are staying away from drugs.

Both DARE and Aiken County's program have gotten endorsements from independent agencies, including the Drug Enforcement Agency and the American Medical Association.

Reach Julia Sellers at (803) 648-1395, ext. 106, or julia.sellers@augustachronicle.com.