The DARE, Tim Hortons Smile Cookie campaign has experienced its best ever fundraiser. More than $27,000 was raised and will be spent on programs to help students deal with things like handling peer pressure. Timmins police constable Rick Lemieux runs the local DARE program. Lemieux says when it comes to getting hit with peer pressure, it comes down to the crowd you run around with. For example, he says if a student hangs around with people who do drugs, there will be pressure on you to also try drugs. On the other hand if your group of friends are drug-free, chances are there’s no pressure to try drugs. Lemieux has also been told by all Grade 6 teachers in the community that DARE has made a positive impact on their students.
