Effectiveness of Drug Education Programs for Secondary School Students

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of a drug education program, an intensive and costly three-week drug education course was given to 452 eighth-grade students. A similar group of eighth-graders who received minimal drug education served as controls. While the students in the experimental group demonstrated superior knowledge of drugs, there was no significant reduction in their drug taking. A follow-up survey of the experimental students done nine months later revealed that their drug use increased despite the intensive program.