ABSTRACT
Drug education had gone through several identifiable but overlapping evolutionary periods. The late fifties and early sixties saw minimal attention paid to education. Junior and senior high school education classes were exposed to didactic instruction on the sources and types of drugs and the evils of drug abuse. The pamphlets did promote teacher knowledge of drugs and pedagogical techniques useful in discouraging drug abuse. Drug counseling workshops using a number of techniques were provided two hours per week for four weeks. The sessions involved the students and their parents. The Ann Arbor, Michigan School District conducted a structured drug program since 1966. Units on drug abuse were included in science, social studies, and physical education. To avoid drug involvement, children must experience a viable alternative. Programs which involve growth, according to Dohner, are effective in preventing drug abuse. The effects of prevention efforts are harder to explain, more difficult to comprehend and are certainly less “marketable” in the political arena.
