Approaches to Drug Abuse Prevention: Crusade vs. Fact of Life

Abstract

This paper presents some suggestions for dealing with the problem of adequately utilizing the educational resources available in preparing students to cope with the problems they will face in a drug oriented society. The problem of drug education is discussed by answering two major questions: should drug education be dealt with as a crusade? or should drug education treat drug abuse as a fact of life? The author concludes that in order to deal adequately with major social problems such as drug abuse, school systems must decide what true education really is, utilize the resources available at colleges and universities, reduce or eliminate the cultural lag by integrating all aspects of a changing society into the educational process, and discriminate between educational fads and sound educational changes in producing realistic drug abuse prevention programs.