Drug strategy wrong educator

By SHAUNE MacKINLAY The Daily News

It's time for schools to start educating students about drugs instead of
preaching their evils, says a British proponent of the harmreduction
approach.

Julian Cohen, a former teacher from Manchester, England who now develops
drug education programs, is in metro this week as a visiting scholar at
Dalhousie University.

He spoke yesterday to a group charged with developing new drug education
approaches for the province's schools.

Cohen said years of telling young people not to try drugs have not resulted
in decreased use. Instead, drug use has risen.

"If you're seriously concerned about the welfare and safety of young
people, you've got to be more realistic," Cohen said in an interview.

Drug use is increasing among Nova Scotia teenagers, according to research
conducted for the Health Department by metro doctors Christiane Poulin and
David Elliott.

The number of students who use cannabis more than once a month nearly
tripled between 1991 and 1996, to 12.3 per cent from 4.4 per cent. More
than half (54.2 per cent) of the nearly 4,000 students interviewed said
they drank, and 30.3 per cent drank more than once a month.

Teenagers haven't bought the message that drugs will ruin their lives,
largely because adults have exaggerated the dangers, Cohen said.

"We haven't had nearly enough drug education, we've had too much drug
propaganda," he said.

Harm reduction accepts that some kids will use drugs, but educates them
about the effects.

When Cohen began in drug education more than a dozen years ago, harm
reduction wasn't welcomed.

"Initially we were regarded as madmen," he said.

In the years since, he has been able to convince more and more educators
that giving students the straight goods on drugs will encourage them to
make more responsible decisions.

The Healthwise drug education program he developed is used by more than
1,500 secondary and primary schools in northwest England.

Parents, many of whom came of age when drugs were widely used, have not
proven to be a big obstacle, Cohen said

"People seem to have this image of parents that they're squeaky clean,
don't use drugs, never did, never will," he said.

Brian Wilbur, director of drug dependency services for the province, was
among the audience yesterday at Nova Scotia Teachers Union headquarters in
Halifax.

Wilbur said he does not know when schools will see a shift in drug
education, but parents and students will be consulted first.

"I think it's important to explore it," he said.

Wilbur said the province's drug education program is more comprehensive
than the Just Say No approach popular in the U.S.

Even if harm reduction is introduced, students will be taught that not
doing drugs is the safest choice they can make, he said.