DRUG ABUSE

INTRODUCTION

Drug Abuse Campaigns are the campaigns that are carried out towards the public with an aim of educating, preventing and intervening, on Drug Abuse related problems.
The campaigns are as a result of the increasing need to address issues to do with drug abuse that are affecting our society today. This paper will primarily focus on drug abuse campaigns geared towards the youth and more so in learning institutions. Campaigns in such forums (learning institutions) are referred to as: School Based Drug Abuse Prevention, Education and Intervention programs. These programs have three main components:
• Programs based on the guiding principles for school based education for drug abuse prevention- using the curriculum to equip young people with information about drugs, life skills necessary to enable the to deal with different situations without having to turn to drugs and the ability to resist pressure to use drugs
• A safe and supportive school environment- this is made possible by a set of clearly communicated policies and procedures that provide care, counseling, and support of all students and ensures co-operation from staff , fellow students, parents and related authorities.
• Policies for dealing with drug incidents- by having plans for initial and long-term responses to incidents, employment of professional help from agencies, support for students involved in these incidents from the society at large.

OUTLINE OF HOW DRUG ABUSE CAMPAIGNS ARE CARRIED OUT
Drug Abuse campaigns are carried out in a systematic way that involves several steps to ensure their effectiveness. These include:
• Research on the different types of drugs and their effects, both on an individual and the society at large. These include:
-The names of the specific drugs.
-Their description and how they are taken.
-Their accessibility and availability.
-The effects it has on a person.
• Understand drug abuse and why do young people use them. This is done by taking into consideration the risk factors involved. They are:
Personal factors – They include; gender, age, individual needs of that person for example homelessness or joblessness and the ability of the individual to understand and make sound decisions regarding drug use.
Environmental factors- they include; the family one is brought up in, the company they keep, the availability of drugs due to lack of stringent laws and regulations pertaining to the same, the society one is brought up in if it supports the use of drugs either for cultural or religious values.
(A practical handbook for Youth Drug Prevention Programs, 2003, pp 8-18)



THE DIFFERENT SOURCES OF INFORMATION
There are different sources of information on drug abuse that contribute to the campaigns effectiveness and influence. This paper covers only two of this sources and primarily the secondary source.
The first source is the primary source-this comprises of the professional drug abuse campaigners especially organizations, for example, The National Agency of Campaigns Against Drug Abuse (NACADA) and Students Campaigns Against Drug Abuse (SCAD), which are the primary source for learning institutions in the urban areas of Kenya..
The secondary source comprises of those who have been taught by the primary source and are under the obligation to pass on the information to others in the society, in the case of this paper, the students who have participated in these campaigns and are to pass the information to their fellow students who were not present.











PRINCIPLES THAT GUIDE THE PRIMARY SOURCE
1. They should put emphasis on learning out comes, environmental factors and collaborative partnerships vital for the success of their campaigns.
2. Their learning outcomes should be addressed in the context of health or other appropriate learning areas that can provide sequence, progression, continuity and links that impact student lives.
3. The environment they are teaching at should be conducive to achieving educational outcomes and building productive partnerships.
4. Collaborative partnerships should be developed for decision-making
5. Teaching and learning should be interactive
6. Educational programs for the prevention of drug abuse should be responsive and inclusive.
7. Training the institutions teachers or counselors in drug abuse prevention education enhances the impact and sustainability of drug abuse prevention programs.
8. Drug abuse programs and their outcomes should be evaluated regularly to provide evidence of their worth and to improve the designs of future programs.
9. Policies for managing drug related incidents at institutions should be collaboratively developed and widely publicized to elicit a positive response.
(School based education for drug abuse prevention, 2004, pp 16-18).

SHORT COMINGS OF THE PRIMARY SOURCE.
Primary source shortcomings come as a result of not following of the principles and the proper approaches to running campaigns. Some of these shortcomings are:
• Some of them do not do a background check so as to establish the best approach for a specific institution.
• There methods are not interactive, for example, in schools where they hold daylong programs, you find that students sit for long hours just listening to speakers and are only given a few minutes for questions at the end of the session. their questions sometimes are not fully answered due to time restrictions.
• They do not make collaborative decisions with both the students and administration thus causing strife between the two as students are the most likely to be excluded.
• They do not do proper advertising or convincing to prompt more students to attend their sessions and to take it seriously.
• They don’t regularly review or revisit an institution to monitor the results and progress resulting from their campaigns, or maintain correspondence with those who need intervention in an already existing problem.
• They use conservative methods of teaching and don’t explore methods that in this day and age are the most effective among the youth. An example of the methods they should, “employ is the use of Internet, which is quick, fun and interactive easy to use with a little practice and some patience.”
(Internet: using the internet for drug abuse prevention, p 6)
THE SECONDARY SOURCE
This is the recipient of the information from the primary source. This source has the obligation of spreading the word to more people by word of mouth in their day-to-day interactions with their peers. Though this source can be instrumental in campaigning against drug abuse, they fall short of the expectation due to certain shortcomings.

SHORT COMINGS OF THE SECONDARY SOURCE

There are a number of factors that contribute to these source’s failure, they can be divided in two main categories. These are:
1. Personal factors-they are:
• Relation-Most young people develop shallow relationships whereby they do not get to a level where they can talk about or advice their ’friends ’on issues pertaining to their personal life. Most of them just stand by as they watch their friends engaging in deviant behavior, in this case drug abuse, that they know will lead to their friend’s downfall.
•Laxity-Young people do not like being confronted on their wrong doing, even though they know they are wrong. As a result they also do not see the need to meddle in other peoples affairs when they dislike the same happening to them. Another aspect could be that they feel it’s a lot of work and effort that could be done by someone else other than them.
•Ignorance-There is the assumption by the youth that everyone else must know what he or she knows and so there is no need for repetition. They also do not see the situation around them as a result of drugs entering their society and thus keep the information to themselves instead of taking initiative to try and save or at least salvage the situation at hand.
2. Professional factors, which are mainly two
•Methodology-The approach that is taken in a bid to spread their knowledge on drug abuse prevention or intervention is not often the right one, you cannot force someone to listen to you and actually do what u say. An example is their approach to try and help someone to stop using drugs. From a trainer in (S.C.A.D) Student campaigns against drug abuse, ”drug addicts cannot be helped unless they individual ask for help.”
(D.Ayo, personal interview, March 23, 2006)
•Lack of skill-This is the major set back affecting this source. “Most secondary source attempts fail because most of those who may want to take part do not know how to, they also lack a guideline to follow to assure their success and effectiveness in this endeavor.”
(Brian. A, personal interview, March 23, 2006)

THE PROBLEM’S SOLUTION
The solution to all these problems is the employing of Peer-to-Peer Education Programs (P.P.E.P), which eliminate the probability of the failure of the secondary source. This will be discussed fully in the next sub topic.
THE PEER-TO-PEER EDUCATION PROGRAM
These are programs that train young people in a peer group on :
-Drug abuse
-Counseling with people already involved in drug abuse
-Treatment and rehabilitation
-Outreach and alternative action
“Key elements of these programs include efficiency, effectiveness, relevancy, ethical consideration, impact and sustainability. PPEP is very important as it uses a community-based approach and it works with people who are affected or at risk.”
(Kasirye .R, 2002, P. 3)
The elements have specific meanings, which are:
• Efficiency- the program should lead to optimum outputs from invested resources.
• Effectiveness- the program practice has to be able to meet the intended objectives of promoting education and prevention.
• Relevancy- actions to reduce drugs must be in accordance with the needs of the affected groups and individuals or the problems they are faced with.
• Ethical consideration-the program should not violate the dignity and confidentiality of its clients.
• Impact- the program should bring positive change to the well being of the people being assisted.
• Sustainability-the programs practices should be sustainable or replicable.
The main workers in the education program are the trainers, also called peer educators, who train their peers , who after training , become trainers to other trainees and the sequence goes on and on. The peer educator’s role involves;
Planning on how to train
Data collection to ensure that they have up to date information on Drug abuse.
Basic counseling and how best it is to be done
Organizing various forums, for example, sports, talks, seminars, dance and drama
through which they educate their peers.
The allocation of responsibilities among peer educators depends on their interests, adaptability, age, marital status and their flexibility.

Their activities include talks, films, recreational, referral, volunteerism, vocational skills placement, relapse prevention and role modeling. Most activates are school based and mainly in urban areas. The Student Campaign Against Drug Abuse (SCAD) based in Nairobi, for instance, trains youth who have completed their O-level examinations to join their program. They also have various programs daily in different high schools in conjunction with the drug free clubs based in these schools.






BENEFITS OF PEER-TO-PEER PROGRAMS
They sustain and properly deliver the message among the youth.
They are very reliable as they live in the same community and are available all the time.
They provide easy group problem solving.
They inspire trust and ensure confidentiality.
They give direct and immediate advice and counsel.
They have bridged the gap between the youth and the adult drug abuse campaigners by giving them an alternative and more receptive program that is just right for them.
They reach many youth who make up a large percentage of communities that are threatened by drug abuse related problems therefore nearly eliminating the problem permanently as the programs nip the problem in the bud.
They provide job opportunities and experience for those involved in the programs












CONCLUSION
Peer-to-Peer education programs are the best solution to the drug abuse problem we are facing and in order to win the fight against drug abuse, we should consider employing the programs. They fill all the gaps created by other programs and empower our youth to be more productive people in society and as a result pave way for further development of our society today.
















BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kasive.R (2002) A Study of Basic practices in Peer-To-Peer Prevention Programs1.5-24.
United Nations Office On Drugs and Crime (2004, November) Schools: School Based Education for Drug Abuse Prevention (pp.12-40). Austria
United Nations Office On Drugs and Crime (2003, April) Internet: Using The Internet for Drug Abuse Prevention (p. 1). Austria
United Nations Office For Drug and Crime Prevention (2003, February

NICKY BITA