Drug education is the planned provision of information, guidelines, resources, and skills relevant to living in a world where

psychoactive substances A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, psychoactive agent or psychotropic drug is a chemical substance, that changes functions of the nervous system, and results in alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition or behavior. Th ...

are widely available and commonly used for a variety of both medical and non-medical purposes, some of which may lead to harms such as overdose,

injury An injury is any physiological damage to living tissue caused by immediate physical stress. An injury can occur intentionally or unintentionally and may be caused by blunt trauma, penetrating trauma, burning, toxic exposure, asphyxiation, o ...

, infectious

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that a ...

(such as HIV or

hepatitis C Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, ...

), or

addiction Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterized by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviors, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Repetitive drug use o ...

Drug education campaigns and programs

Drug education can be given in numerous forms, some more effective than others. Examples include

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

and awareness raising campaigns such as the UK Government's FRANK campaign or the US "media campaign". In addition there are school based drug education programs like

DARE Dare may refer to: Places * Dare, East Timor, a city * Darè, Italy, a commune * Dare County, North Carolina, United States * Dare, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community Name * Dare (name), a list of people and fictional c ...

or that currently being evaluated by the UK Blueprint Programme. In efforts to prevent

substance abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

, drug education may perpetuate myths and stereotypes about psychoactive substances and people who use them. Drug education can also take less explicit forms; an example of this is the Positive Futures Programme, funded by the UK government as part of its drug strategy. This programme uses

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

and the arts as catalysts to engage young people on their own turf, putting them in contact with positive role models (coaches/trained youth workers). After building a trusting relationship with a young person, these role models can gradually change attitudes towards drug use and steer the young person back into education, training and

employment Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any o ...

. This approach reaches young people who have dropped out of mainstream education. It also has additional benefits for the community in reduced

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in C ...

and anti-social behaviour.

School-based drug education

School-based drug education began with the anti-alcohol "

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture * Temperance (group), Canadian dan ...

education" programmes of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in the United States and Canada in the late 19th century. In many respects, the WCTU's

progressive education Progressive education, or protractivism, is a pedagogical movement that began in the late 19th century and has persisted in various forms to the present. In Europe, progressive education took the form of the New Education Movement. The term ''p ...

agenda set the template for much of what has been done since in the name of drug education. Past research into drug education has indicated that to be effective it must involve engaging, interactive learning strategies that stimulate higher-order thinking, promote learning and be transferable to real life circumstances. Current challenges from this approach exist in adopting evidence-based school drug education programmes. Currently, in the majority of countries where preventive drug education programs and courses exist, they are established and funded by the Government. These education programs aim to educate adolescents about illicit drug use in an effort to prevent illegal drug use while highlighting the dangers of problematic substance use. The

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Governmen ...

has implemented a range of drug education programs through the National Drug Education Strategy (NDES) by providing schools with effective drug education programmes. The program aims to manage drug related issues and incidents within schools. On 6 December 2015 the Australian Government Department of Health launched the Positive Choices portal as part of its response to the findings from the National Ice Taskforce report. Positive Choices is an online portal that facilitates access to interactive evidence-based drug education resources and prevention programs for school communities. Positive Choices builds on existing drug education resources developed by researchers at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre such as the Climate Schools programs that have been proven to reduce alcohol and drug related harms and increase student well-being. The Australian Department of Health and Aging identified that analgesics (90%), alcohol (80–90%) and tobacco (30–60%) were the most widely utilised substances among adolescents. In addition to this, cannabis was another commonly used illicit substance that accounted for 33% usage among adolescents aged 14–17 years. In addition, to government-funded programs, a number of not-for-profit organisations (such as Life Education Australia also provide drug education programs to adolescents. These preventative programs aim to deliver a progressive approach that will motivate and encourage young people to make positive decisions in life. Emphasis within these programs is also placed in focusing on deterring peer pressure as a means of empowering adolescents and promoting autonomy. This approach reaches 750,000 primary and secondary students in Australia each year.

D.A.R.E.

D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) is a program in the United States implemented in 5th grade school classrooms to educate students on the effects of drugs and temptations they may encounter, particularly in later education. The police officers who administer the program can also serve as community models for students. However, there is no scientific evidence that preventive drug education, such as D.A.R.E., is effective.Benze, James G. (2005), p. 63

Technology and drug education

The University of North Carolina Greensboro has researched the drug prevention program, All Stars, Sr. The program is developing education through technology (videos), so that health education programs could reach schools in rural communities. The technology programs would provide drug/ health education in general with qualified instructors, in areas that do not have programs.

Effectiveness

Recent studies have identified that a gap between the theory of education programmes and the implementation exists. This is regards to the collaborative learning approach and difficulties with teachers adopting these interactive drug education programmes. The practical implications of these findings are that professional training and support are required to increase the effectiveness of teaching staff, and the uniform implementation of drug curriculum. Additional drug education research in the future should acknowledge the complexities of implementing these programmes in a school environment. Furthermore, additional support for teachers, counselors, school administrators and other education professionals should be integrated as a means of being realistic about what constitutes effective drug education and maintaining a high quality standard. An article in the ''Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse'' ran a study on two southern California high schools in middle class suburbs, and the high school students' use of anabolic-androgenic steroids. It surveyed students on if they use steroids, knew the side effects of steroids, and additionally their use of other prevalent drugs. The article specifically found that male students that were athletes were more likely to use steroids than students that are female or non-athlete students in general. Most students that participated in steroids played the sports, football or soccer, and were most likely to do steroids if they participated in both sports. Professional sports, influence young athletes, and when professional athletes participate in drugs, it can lead young adults to use drugs without realizing the side effects and consequences that come along with drug use. Also, a study in the ''journal of Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy'' discusses alcohol and drug prevention programs in Australia for students in grades 8 and 9. It goes into detail about the student's between 13 and 15 years old, to see if alcohol and drug prevention programs have an actual effect on preventing substance abuse. The study comes to the conclusion that when the students went through a drug and alcohol prevention program, they were less likely to develop a drug or alcohol problem.

References

External links

{{wikibooks, Teaching Elementary School Health Education/Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs
BlueprintDrug Education ForumPositive Futures ProgrammeTalk to FrankPositive Choices Drug Education portalClimate Schools Australia
Education by subject Psychoactive drugs