Worldwide, the prevalence of drug use transcends borders, nationalities, and demographics. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimated that almost 300 million people (roughly 5.8% of the global population) used illicit drugs in the world last year. In the US, another survey highlighted that 20% of high school students have used illicit drugs within the past year: this represents approximately 3.5 million adolescents, a particularly vulnerable and highly suggestible group, with limited drug education that exists within a sphere of constant social pressures and shifting societal norms.
While the US was mostly responsible for creating a global drug war, it is now increasingly moving towards more progressive stances on drugs. With most Americans favouring the end of cannabis’ prohibition, to the need for immediate action to prevent more drug-related deaths, there is an unprecedented opportunity to reframe the way that drugs are perceived.
However, one key population that has remained set in how best to approach drugs, their use and harms, are young people. In the US – and across most of the world too – most pedagogical systems deal with drugs in a prohibitionist way: as widely popularised, “just say no” is the dominant approach. The D.A.R.E programme, the main American system for drug education, has been widely discredited both at home and abroad. A more effective programme has yet to emerge at scale.
Rhana Hashemi of Know Drugs has made it her life’s mission to effectively replace the ‘Just Say No’ approach to drug education with a more trauma-informed, evidence-based, and harm reduction-centred ethos: ‘Just Say Know’.
Tackling the biggest challenges head on
Know Drugs has piloted their evidence-based, trauma-informed and comprehensive drug education curriculum called ‘Pharmakon’ in various Californian public schools over the last six years, where progressive policies and educator mindsets have fostered a welcoming environment to develop the next generation of youth drug education programmes.
While working in these more accepting environments means more success, Hashemi was interested in launching a new curriculum in places that would be naturally hesitant to more progressive models of drug education. So, she turned her eyes to Tennessee, a historically very conservative state politically, which requires delicacy and diplomacy when navigating the realm of drug education at large. Tennessee has a heavily anti-drug use stance and rhetoric, with official sources citing that “80% of crimes in Tennessee have some drug-related nexus.”
“The state of Tennessee reached out to me regarding… drug education for youth. We sought to collaborate within the guidelines of the values championed by the state of Tennessee to meaningfully address and mitigate the impact of the fentanyl crisis sweeping the nation, as well as to take measures to improve student safety by helping them understand the realities of drug use more broadly through an evidence-based lens.”
“After working for over a decade in more progressive areas, I thought that if Know Drugs could deliver reality-based, compassionate, and comprehensive drug education in Tennessee, we could do it anywhere. The process involved a lot of back-and-forth, interviews, iterations, and revisions, but we ultimately created a product that I’m proud of, and that aligns with their culture and context. It maintains the philosophy and ethos of harm reduction while meeting the State where they’re at.” said Hashemi.
Hashemi, alongside state educators, developed a three-part curriculum for two age groups – high school students, and young adults aged 18-25 – that will soon be available through the Tennessee department of mental health services website:
- Fentanyl education and overdose prevention: The young adult version had fewer restrictions and included information on drug test strips and naloxone. The high school version for students aged 15 to 18, however, was not allowed to cover these topics. Instead, it focused on understanding drug contamination, identifying the signs of overdose, who to contact for help, and using the recovery position.
- The developing brain, mental health, and substance use disorders: This part focused on how brain chemistry, brain development and drug use interact, and how the risk of substance use disorders increases with repeated use. It also highlighted healthy coping strategies, encouraged adolescents to think about their values and areas of growth, and what choices would align with that. The message was about what they could say “yes” to during this time, rather than just saying “no” to drugs, with an understanding of drug science, as well as how to set intentions and boundaries.
- Supporting friends who use drugs: This segment emphasised non-judgmental communication strategies, and compassionate curiosity to help students learn how to support friends who might be using drugs at various levels of frequency and dependency. It prepared students on how to support a friend who is expressing interest in using drugs, and how this will look and feel different depending on the drugs they take or mix.
Creating and spreading better drug education
The widespread need for a more effective, realistic and comprehensive approach to adolescent drug education is starting to afford Know Drugs ongoing opportunities in other states.
“I worked with Illinois to help architect the first state mandate on what needs to be taught in schools regarding drugs. At the time, there were no government mandates specifying required topics for drug education—unlike sex education, where some states have clear guidelines. For example, states like California mandate the teaching of contraception, safe sex practices, and even abortion, while conservative states might ban such topics.
In the drug education field, however, there were no such mandates, standards, or recommendations. Schools could choose from various evidence-based curriculums, but many were outdated and not relevant to the current Fentanyl crisis. Additionally, many schools didn’t want to use prepackaged curriculums. They preferred designing their own materials to fit their culture, context, and the practical limitations of time and personnel.”
Illinois sought to build upon their existing approach by creating a set of mandates that schools across different counties could use to guide their drug education programming. Ultimately, Illinois built its framework on the foundation of the Safety First curriculum—the nation’s first harm-reduction-based drug education program for high schools, which Hashemi helped create in collaboration with the Drug Policy Alliance.
Hashemi and her in state collaborators created a blueprint of what a state law mandating comprehensive drug education should include. This resulted in the bill known as Louise’s Law, which passed with bipartisan support and is now being implemented. Each county in Illinois can design its own curriculum, but they must follow specific rules regarding what is essential to include in drug education as outlined by the blueprint.
Evolving public perception and policy around drugs in the United States has galvanised a sea change downstream – and in the cultural confusion around our collective relationship to drugs, the youth are the most exposed to potential consequences of our conflicted societal relationship with mind-altering molecules.
“It’s not enough to teach kids what to think about drugs. The drug supply, drug culture, drug policy is changing so rapidly. Next-gen, drug education teaches kids how to think about drugs in a way that is integrated with the science of their unique bodies and brains, history, media, policy, and safety. That way we are no longer playing whack-a-mole in drug education, trying to keep up with the changing times.”
