Show 1 z Alcohol Alcohol- 1 and Drug Drug and i class offered J Vicki McPhail Contributing Writer A class dealing with alcohol and drugs has been added to this quarters quarter's curriculum Life Science is being offered in response to a federal grant received by as part of Pr President President si- si dent Reagans Reagan's 1986 Drug and Alcohol Act Taught by Jeff Ross Director of Drug and Alcohol Education for the main objective of the class is to help students make informed decisions Taught once last year plans are to carry the course every quarter A lot of consideration is being given to reducing the technical aspects of the subject in order to be more enjoyable and have a broader appeal Some of the concepts discussed in the class include What is isa isa isa a drug How and why are drugs used How drugs work in the central nervous system and education and treatment An estimated 50 percent of students surveyed last last- quarter are involved with a friend or relative who abuses al alcohol alcohol alcohol al- al cohol or and/or drugs According to Ross most of the things we do to help alcohol abusers are actually encouraging their abuse instead of helping helping helping help help- ing the problem For example Ross sees the Nancy Reagan Just say no campaign as ineffective treatment Although he does admit it has raised awareness Statistics say that nationwide 15 percent of substance abusers seek help and the remaining 85 percent go without help Ross who has worked locally in a treatment center as a counselor counselor counselor coun coun- and is on the faculty of the University of Utah's School of Alcoholism and other drugs says that most abusers are not productive citizens and go from job to job He adds that it is usually cheaper for employers to seek treatment for employees rather than to replace themI them I would like to see this offered as a mandatory class said Ross He considers drug education to Jo b be valuable saying that people need to learn other ways to cope with problems than with drug use Students Kevin Griggs and Diana Haslam say that they are taking to be more informed about what's happening in society Haslam sees the class as having a lot of application to life |