The effectiveness of primary school drug education

Early use of drugs such as tobacco and alcohol is associated with later dru g misuse and the agc of initiation into drug use is falling ill the UK and elsewhere. Arguably educational interventions must start ill the primary sc hool ill order to maximize ally preventive impact yet such education is und erdeveloped and poorly researched. This article reviews the (mainly US) lit erature oil the effectiveness of school-based educational interventions tar geted at children below 11 years of age with the objective of preventing il licit drug rise. Such evaluations are rare partly because they require a lo ng timescale before impacts become measurable. The major (but still small-s cale) British study to date suggested that a broad-based, life-skills progr amme could help prevent drug use. Other British studies have,demonstrated t he feasibility of implementing dung Education in the primary school and som e have recorded improvements in variables thought to relate to later drug u se/problems. Outside the UK, studies of two popular approaches (DARE and Li fe Education Centres) have been generally inconclusive or disappointing. Ho wever, there is evidence that long-term, intensive programmes, especially t hose which involve parents and the wider community and employ interactive t eaching styles, can have a lasting and worthwhile impact on later drug use. Recommendations are made for UK practice based partly on these finding.