DRUG EDUCATORS 'SHOULD BE REALISTIC'

Drug educators should be realistic with young people who can see drugs
as glamorous and exciting, a leading researcher says.

Associate Professor Richard Midford will give the keynote address at
the International Conference on Drugs and Young People in Sydney,
arguing that the federal government's drug education strategy for
schools is in need of reform.

"They really are very much taking the moral stance and saying it's a
bad thing to do, and that we should be giving a clear 'just say no'
message," Prof Midford said.

"That's a nice slogan to have, and I don't think anyone would disagree
with it, but drug education has to be so much more than just simply
not having drugs in schools.

"They (young people) can see them (drugs) as glamorous and risky and
exciting, and they've got to really have the skills to be able to deal
with those sort of issues."

Prof Midford, from the National Drug and Research Institute in Perth,
said just under 50 per cent of young people had tried cannabis by the
time they reached 17 years old, while most had experimented with
alcohol before leaving high school.

"You can't get an expert, whether that be a policeman or somebody who
has worked in the alcohol and drug area, or even the teacher
themselves, you can't get them standing up in front of the class
telling them not to do drugs," he said.

"If you are realistic and acknowledge that these things go on, you can
then deal with them.

"If you do a shock horror scare tactic on them (the students) and
they've got different information from their own experiences that it's
not that bad, they're just going to ignore you, it's going to be irrelevant.

The three-day conference hosted by the Australian Drug Foundation will
discuss ways of reducing the impact of drugs on youth.