WASHINGTON

North Carolina researcher knocks anti-drug programs

The top three programs used by schools to keep students away from drugs are either ineffective or haven’t been sufficiently tested, new research suggests.

In a study being published today in Health Education Research, a journal for educators, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill say many schools are using popular programs such as D.A.R.E., Here’s Looking at You 2000 and McGruff’s Drug Prevention and Child Protection, which haven’t shown the kind of results that schools should expect, despite years of use.

“It’s not a very good use of taxpayer money,” said Denise Hallfors, now a substance abuse prevention researcher at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, a nonprofit group.

The study found that, in spite of a decade of efforts from the federal government to promote proven programs, many schools still use “heavily marketed curricula that have not been evaluated, have been evaluated inadequately or have been shown to be ineffective in reducing substance abuse.”

WASHINGTON

Monthlong hiatus takes president to Maine retreat

President Bush began a monthlong respite away from the capital’s political tussles and August humidity Friday.

Shortly before boarding Air Force One for a weekend trip to the family’s summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine, Bush welcomed the U.S. men’s World Cup soccer team to the White House, offering congratulations for its unexpectedly stellar performance in the World Cup. The athletes gave Bush a team jersey emblazoned with his presidential number, “43.”

Bush aides were mostly mum on the president’s plans during his nearly four-day getaway at Walker’s Point, the estate where the Bush family has summered for more than 100 years. But the visit will no doubt feature a mix of boating, fishing and golf with Bush’s famously competitive father.

The six-acre coastal compound is owned by Bush’s parents, former President George H.W. Bush and his wife, Barbara.

In the only event on his schedule, the president was headlining an afternoon fund-raiser today to boost the re-election hopes of Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Turkey

Death penalty outlawed

Turkey’s parliament abolished the death penalty and legalized education and broadcasts in Kurdish today, moves aimed at improving the country’s chances for joining the European Union.

Parliament sounded more like a soccer stadium than a legislative body during a marathon debate that began Friday, with pro-EU legislators and nationalists opposed to the reforms shouting at each other through the night.

Finally, this morning, legislators voted in a show of hands in favor of the reforms.

The EU had made the reforms a condition for Turkey to join the union.