Show 4 J by PETER G G. G HAMMOND Executive Director National Coordinating Council on Drug Education One of the reasons most drug abuse education programs programs programs pro pro- grams fail is the law of least effort We Ve cant can't resist categorizing categorizing categorizing cate cate- people as black or white rich or poor Republican can or Democrat old or young oung users and users non-users addicts and ex When we finish this convenience convenience convenience con con- we then make generalizations generalizations generalizations gen gen- about all the people within the category We Ve fail to make the essential discrimination among the many motivations for drug use among the different meanings and functions of drug use among the many levels and kinds of risk which are a function of age socioeconomic socioeconomic socioeconomic socio- socio economic status and educational educational educational background After all there are tall talI users short users skinny and fat users smart and dumb users etc Generalizations and absolutes have no place in drug education programs It isn't necessary on the theother theother theother other hand to have individual individual individual dual or to one-to-one instruction instruction instruction tion on drugs We Ve neither have the time or the trained personnel for this kind of education But we can and must make modifications in inthe inthe inthe the available drug information information information tion materials that put drugs in their proper perspective If we couch what we know pharmacologically about abou t drugs in relationship to what we know about human behavior behavior behavior beha beha- vior we will then be on the threshold of rational and meaningful drug education We will then be able to deal with the basic issues that lead to drug taking and too often to drug misuse |