FIGHTING THE DRUG WAR ON THE WRONG BATTLEFIELD

I thought the 30-year drug war was over. But lately it's looking like an
instant replay in black and white.

We haven't stopped drugs from landing in U.S. markets. Locking up thousands
of users, mostly black, didn't help. Treatment is still under-funded, and
it's too little, too late. How about an ounce of prevention? The problem is
the "war on drugs" curriculum isn't about what really happens.

Education about drug abuse is the key.

Consider the world of adolescents. Even the ones who don't use anything and
never will know about drugs and alcohol. They know people who use and
abuse. They understand the topic when it comes up, in conversation and
gossip, on TV, in the magazines and movies and on the Web. Illicit drugs
are a familiar part of any kid's social world. Here's what happens:

A new drug - probably an old drug that hasn't been around for awhile - hits
the markets. The wild and crazy guys and girls give it a whirl. There are
always a few around. I can't be the only AARP member who remembers when
risk was an attraction, when altering consciousness was part of a good
time, when bad things only happened to other people.

Fortunately - I guess fortunately - alcohol was all we could get our hands on.

After the wild ones try the new thing, stories start circulating. If the
drug is interesting, the stories will be good. More kids will experiment.
Two things happen next:

Other stories start circulating that dampen the enthusiasm. Bad
experiences, negative effects, observations of addicts, depending on the
drug. The experimentation curve slows, then slows more then flattens out.
These stories are available, in the world of kids. All you do is ask and
then get out of the way. The kids will tell stories that other kids know
make sense.

The thing is, they won't say that if you use it even once you will die or
turn into a junkie. In fact, they won't just tell negative stories. They
know better. Most everyone who experiments with anything doesn't turn into
an addict. Kids will say that if you use too much too often for too long,
you've got a serious problem, and they'll have stories from their world to
back that statement up.

The second thing that happens is that drugs have a fuzzy boundary, where a
kid crosses the line from controlling the drug into the drug controlling
him or her. A few of the experimenters will turn into addicts. We know a
lot about where those boundaries are - they're different for different drugs.

The purpose of drug education is to build a barrier in front of that boundary.

If we say one use equals an abuser, like the old war on drugs wants us to,
we lose several ways. For some, credibility goes to zero. Alternately, we
convince an experimenter that he or she is already a lost cause. Most
importantly, we fail to provide the important and realistic message: Don't
cross the barrier because here's what it looks like on the other side.

The abstainers will probably always abstain. The experimenters will
probably always experiment. But that vast middle ground knows the raw
material to slow and reduce the epidemic curve of addiction. Weaving in
knowledge from history and research makes all kinds of sense. But unless it
connects with what kids learn from their own and others' experiences, it
doesn't stand a chance.

For some kids, experimentation is fun. For others, it's not. For a few, the
drug pulls them over a barrier and they live in service to a chemical. The
stories are out there to bring it all to life, the good, the bad and the
ugly. A little expert knowledge helps put them in context. But the main
curriculum should be lots of space for the kids to talk.

Such a program is politically incorrect for a "war" on drugs. But it will
reduce the number of kids who slide into addiction because it works with
what we know about how epidemic curves rise and then flatten out. Education
that connects with kids' stories from their world will help slow those
curves down, and treatment will have fewer addicts asking for help and
suppliers will see their markets turn south.