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.

TL; DR: They used peoples kids to rat out their own parents doing drugs with a program that made it more likely kids would use drugs. And DARE pioneered a way to legally bribe the police. And the guy that ran DARE almost got caught for illegal spying on US citizens. And they have a program coming back into schools.

Drugs Are Really Excellent