PORTLAND — The ranks of a specially trained group of police officers who have been teaching Maine fifth- and sixth-graders to resist drugs grew by 41 last week, following the officers’ graduation in Portland.

The new Drug Abuse Resistance Education officers underwent two weeks of training by a group of Virginia State Police officers, who have conducted similar programs around the country.

The training was sponsored by the Maine Criminal Justice Academy.

Maurice C. Harvey, director of the Criminal Justice Academy, told the graduates, “D.A.R.E. has been one of the most popular drug-prevention programs ever conducted, and by the end of this school year, 10,000 Maine youngsters will have gone through the training.

“If we teach these youngsters early to stay off drugs and alcohol, it will help our enforcement efforts in the years to come,” Harvey said.

Harvey noted that there are now 95 Maine police officers who have received D.A.R.E. training. The new D.A.R.E. officers will begin preparations for their classroom instruction in September, at the beginning of the next school year.

The D.A.R.E. program utilizes uniformed police officers who teach a 17-week program to fifth- and sixth-graders.

The pupils are taught ways to resist peer pressure to use drugs, alcohol and tobacco. After their instruction, the pupils receive a diploma and a T-shirt.

The new D.A.R.E. police officers are:

Daniel D. Kinney, Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department; Raymond Moinester, Augusta Police Department; James P. Carr, Bangor Police Department; Michael W. Miller, Bar Harbor Police Department; Brian M. Stowell, Bethel Police Department; David R. Clewley, Brewer Police Department; Clifford A. Braley, Jr., Brunswick Police Department; Terry A. Goan, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department; and Allen L. Emerson, Dexter Police Department.

Also: Steven L. Theriault, Eastport Police Department; Dorothy L. Small, Ellsworth Police Department; John L. Emery, Fairfield Police Department; Michael J. Bouchard, Falmouth Police Department; Philip D. Hatch, Falmouth Police Department; Matthew F. Baker, Fryeburg Police Department; Eric L. Nason, Hallowell Police Department; Thomas D. Stewart, Hampden Police Department; and DAvid A. Poisson, Jay Police Department

Additonal D.A.R.E. officers are: Julia S. Stackpole, Lebanon Police Department; William G. Mahoin, Lewiston Police Department; Donald R. Mailhot, Lewiston Police Department; David R. Benner, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department; Ross M. Dubois, Madawaska Police Department; Warren S. Smith, Madison Police Department; John C. Matthews Jr. of Perry, Maine State Police; Jeffrey S. Smith of Yarmouth, Maine State Police; Sumner B. Murray Jr., North Berwick Police Department; John M. Yerardi, Portsmouth (N.H.) Police Department; Wallace M. Tower Jr., Rockland Police Department; and Fred P. Dwyer, Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department

Other new D.A.R.E. law enforcement teachers are: Daniel L. Reed, Sagadahoc County Sheriff’s Department; David W. Grover, Scarborough Police Department; Paul J. Lambert Jr., South Portland Police Department; Robert H. Lavoie, Thomaston Police Department; Donald R. Hebert, U.S. Air Force; Anne Marie Ferla, Warwick (R.I.) Police Department; Earl L. Hodson, Warwick Police Department; George H. Bunker Jr., Washington County Sheriff’s Department; Robert F. Cole Jr., Wilton Police Department; and Gina A. Cabaniss, Winslow Police Department.