Combining these sources with local community donations, California has spent an estimated $1.6 billion on drug education since 1991, or roughly $84/year per child.

But how is that money spent? Part of the CADPE program tried to find out by making the schools accountable. They didn't expect the schools to prove the drug programs worked: they merely wanted to make sure the drug war money went to the right place.

Administrators of the program were astounded when schools asked if they could use the money for football teams and bus trips. Using a twist on the infamous "ketchup is a vegetable" reasoning of the Reagan administration, schools claimed these expenses were justified because they offered kids drug-free activities.

Schools also began to squawk that they were being encumbered by the paperwork required by the program. CADPE held firm, demanding they prove every dollar was spent as intended. It'll be worth it, CADPE told the schools, because we're in this for the long haul. They were wrong. Wilson red-lined CADPE out of California's 1992 budget, only three years after it began.

Although it meant the loss of some money for the schools, the California Teacher's Association did not oppose the program's elimination. And with the hardships imposed by Prop 13, it's easy to see why; that drug war money may be all that keeps some districts from a starvation budget.

One Department of Education consultant says, "It's real hard to figure out where the money's going. Since schools are getting hit so hard, it's being used to supplant other services that used to be delivered... you see administrators getting paid 100 percent out of one program, yet they're managing 16 other programs. Or maybe a counselor's entire salary comes from the drug money, but they're doing a lot more than just drug counseling. Of course, they don't want to report it out like that; the money is supposed to be going to buying new services. But there probably woudn't be a counselor available for anything if it wasn't for that money.

"Then CADPE even went out and did audits. That caused a major uproar, and was quite embarassing. School people were glad to get rid of CADPE, even though they lost some funding -- it was such a pain in the neck."