CULTURAL DIVERSITY
All nations are affected by the destructive consequences of drug abuse. Fast changing social and economical situations, the global availability of illegal drugs and the increasing demand for them have all greatly contributed to the rising magnitude of this grave global problem.
The problem of drug abuse has also increasingly become complex. It can no longer be claimed that drug use is only taking place among marginalized groups, or mainly in the western industrialized world. Drug use emerges as a survival means for the disadvantaged young people who are in close contact with crime and street life. It also forms a part of the youth subculture which is rapidly spreading a benign drug image around the world.
Illegal drugs are addictive substances, which is a fact that hazes the image line between abuse and use, and between addiction and consumption. According to the estimates that were done by the United Nations Drug Control Programme, annual illegal consumption of drugs is likely to involve three and a half percent to four percent of the world’s population. However, from a health point of view, heroin is the most serious drug abuse. Although the consumption of the drug is still relatively low, around eight million people or 0.14 percent of the world population, its use is steadily on the rise (Dorn, 2006). Cocaine is more prevalent in terms of the total number of consumers; thirteen million people or even 0.23 percent of the world’s population, even though fewer nations are affected. The most widely used drug is cannabis, that is, it is used or consumed by around two and a half percent of the world population- about one hundred and forty million people.
Although majority of the illegal drugs that are currently consumed are still obtained from plants or even their products that have been synthetically made, a wave of synthetic (ATS) Amphetamine Type has been reported in the recent years, with a sixteen percent average yearly increase in the quantities seized. Presently, some thirty million which is equivalent to 0.5 percent of the world population consume ATS. There seems to be a conception, widely spread through the media and specifically directed to the young population that these drugs are safe and fashionable.
Another major factor affecting illegal drug demand is that the age of initiation is falling nearly each year. This is particularly notable with regard to the individuals who sick medication for opiate abuse, like in the year 1995 when many young people in the age group fifteen to nineteen years entered treatment compared to entire three-year period from the year 1992 to 1994. This is not only an issue of developed nations. Most developing nations reported same trend in the increasing number of young people abusing heroin, hallucinogens, cannabis and stimulants (Trebach, 2006).
The question of impulsive substances must also be put into consideration, as these are not subject to global control measures. These substances might serve as an entrance to psychotropic and narcotics substances and the youths in especially extreme or difficult situations, like street children are particularly susceptible or vulnerable. For several millions of children who live on the streets or major towns and cities, sniffing substances that are volatile is both a mental and physical escape.
Approaches to drug education
Many past programmes of drug education have attempted to discourage the youths from using illegal drugs. This is known as primary prevention and has been tried using many different approaches. In rough chronological order, these include:
The shock or scare approach as shown in hard hitting anti-drug videos, talks by some government TV or ex-junkies and billboard campaigns focusing on the terrors of drug use.
The information approach whereby the youths are given the real facts about drugs and particularly the risks on the presumption that if they knew the facts well they would not use drugs.
The attitudes or approach whereby the trial is made in promotion of drug free kind of life, strong moral beliefs and personal responsibility to avoid drugs.
The refusal skills approach whereby the youths are viewed as easy prey to peer pressure and require developing skills to say No To Drugs.
The decision making approach that has the assumption that the youths do not have the generic skills to make logical choices and that if they possessed these skills they would not used drugs.
The optional or alternative highs whereby the trial is made to substitute the drug use excitement with other type or forms of risk taking like pot holding, abseiling and climbing assuming that the youths will then not need to use drugs.
The self-esteem approach whereby the focus is on the person rather than drugs per se and it’s presumed that the youths of high-esteem won’t use drugs.
The current strategy of the British government is ‘Tackling Drugs Together’ and is majorly based on the primary prevention with the aim of helping the youths to resist the issue of drugs use.
The impacts of drug education
Most politicians, parents and teachers believe that education on drug will discourage the youths from the use of drugs. However, analysis of all types of programmes on drug education in this nation and all over the developed world indicate that education on drug doesn’t prevent the youths from using drugs.
Murji and Dorn’s comprehensive review of the evaluation studies came to this conclusion and recommended that the best that can be expected of education on drug is to control or regulate post-initiation growth in the use and decrease drug related effect. Coggans et al. (1991) carried out the largest and most inclusive analysis of school drug education ever done in the United Kingdom. It also stated that education on drug doesn’t stop the use of drug but could play a role in its reduction.
Recently, DARE and Life Education have suggested that their programmes check or prevent the use of drugs but analysis of both programmes have came to a conclusion that this isn’t the case.
Some people claim that education on drug use might increase the use of drugs because it will instill ideas into the heads of the innocent individuals who would otherwise not think of using drugs. This is possible because eve the young children already know about drugs and also because the behavioral effect is clearly limited. Study that was done by a team at the University of Southampton, and replicated in several localities has indicated that even the young people think about and also are aware of drugs to an extent or degree that teachers and parents find amazing.
In no other part of education, apart from the sex education, would people consider ignorance as a good value. Education means putting ideas into the heads of children and introducing new concepts and information for use, now as well as in the future. To be efficient, education on drug has to prepare young individuals for the future and also make them understand and assist others, even if they do not use drugs themselves.
Nevertheless, some analyses indicate that sock or scare approaches might legitimize and glamorize the use of drugs amongst young individuals. This has the implication that the most anti-drug kinds of education might be worst as compared to having no education on drug at all. At a macro level, we find that several young people exposed to the programmes and campaigns of primary preventions at the very same time as the number of using illegal drugs has rose significantly.
The evidence from study indicates that proper education on drugs can increase knowledge on drugs, develop decision making skills as well as making the youths more perceptive about what they really do (Davies, 2004). This does not mean that they will not use legal or illicit drugs. Similarly, education on drug can play a role in the reduction of harms that are associated with drugs rather than preventing the use of drugs per se.
Education not propaganda
In deciding what the objectives of education on drug should be, it helps in the distinction between particular educational objectives and health related behaviors. In the past, practitioners have always fallen in the trap of thinking that the objective of education on drug should be to prevent all uses of drugs. They then find that this objective can’t be accomplished and are disappointed with the results of the programme.
Education on drugs should be based on the three broad objectives underpinning the teaching of other subjects:
To increase the understanding and knowledge of the young people about drugs, its use and the related issues;
To explore different attitudes and opinions towards the use of drugs and enable the youths to arrive at their own informed opinions;
To develop different skills that are related to the use of drugs as well as enabling the young people to make their own informed decisions concerning drugs.
Knowledge on drugs should be based on information that is appropriate and appreciates both the advantages and dangers of drug use. Nonetheless, attitudes towards the use of drugs vary significantly and there is no one ‘right’ view of the use of drugs which brings about complicated issues requires debate and exploration from different angles. Encouragement of the young people in making their own informed decisions simply means that, and doesn’t mean telling the youths the kind of decisions they should be making (Cohen, 2007). It is about the use of drugs by the young people here and right now, but should also be about their future, assisting others as well as understanding the role of drugs in the society.
References
Cohen, J., (2007). Achieving a reduction in drug-retated harm through education. London: Whurr
Davies J., (2004). The Facts About Adolescent Drug Abuse. London: Cassell
Dorn, N., (2006). Drug Prevention. London: ISDD.
Trebach, A., (2006). The Great Drugs War and Radical Proposals that can make America Safe Again. New York: MacMillan
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