PREVENTIVE DRUG EDUCATION PROGRAM POLICY FOR CURRICULUM AND

INSTRUCTION

The Department of Education (DepEd) issues the enclosed Preventive Drug

Education Program Policy for Curriculum and Instruction in support of the National
Drug Education Program as provided in Section 43, Article IV of Republic Act No. 9165,
hereunder quoted as follows: Instruction on drug abuse prevention and control shall be
integrated in the elementary, secondary and tertiary curricula of all public and private
schools, whether general, technical, vocational or agro-industrial as well as in
nonformal, informal and indigenous learning systems. Such instructions shall include:
(1) Adverse effects of the abuse and misuse of dangerous drugs on the person, the
family, the school and the community; (2) Preventive measures against drug abuse; (3)
Health, socio-cultural, psychological, legal and economic dimensions and implications of
the drug problem; (4) Steps to take when intervention on behalf of a drug dependent
needed, as well as the services available for the treatment and rehabilitation of drug
dependents; and (5) Misconceptions about the use of dangerous drugs such as, but not
limited to, the importance and safety of dangerous drugs for medical and therapeutic
use as well as the differentiation between medical patients and drug dependents in
order to avoid confusion and accidental stigmatization in the consciousness of the
students otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2001.

Likewise, as stated in the Political Declaration and Plan of Action of the United Nations
Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) of which the Philippines is a member, the worlds
drug problem remains a common and shared responsibility that requires effective and
increased international cooperation that demands an integrated, multidisciplinary, and
balanced approach to supply and demand reduction strategies.

The policy aims to:

 Strengthen the implementation of the PDEP in schools and CLCs through
curriculum integration across all learning areas;
 Provide capability for DepEd personnel in the implementation of the
PDEP;
 Ensure that PDEP services are available and accessible to all learners, teaching
and non-teaching personnel;
 Create strong partnership with various stakeholders in promoting the PDEPl
 Encourage PDE research for evidence-based decision-making and policy
formulation;
 Establish a strategic and systematic monitoring, evaluation and feedback
mechanism to ensure continuity of the program; and
 Ensure allocation of funds for program sustainability.
Drug education is the planned provision of information, resources, and skills relevant
to living in a world where psychoactive substances are widely available and commonly
used for a variety of both medical and non-medical purposes, some of which may lead
to harms such as overdose, injury, infectious disease (such as HIV or hepatitis C),
or addiction.

Benefits
Planning includes developing strategies for helping children and young people engage with relevant
drug-related issues during opportunistic and brief contacts with them as well as during more
structured sessions. Drug education enables children, youth and adults to develop the knowledge,
skills and attitudes to appreciate the benefits of living healthily (which may or may not include the
use of psychoactive substances), promote responsibility towards the use of drugs and relate these to
their own actions and those of others, both now and in their future lives. It also provides
opportunities for people to reflect on their own and others' attitudes to various psychoactive
substances, their use and the people who use them.

Drug education campaigns & programs

Drug education can be given in numerous forms, some more effective than others. Examples
include advertising and awareness raising campaigns such as the UK
Government’s FRANK campaign or the US "media campaign". In addition there are school based
drug education programs like DARE or that currently being evaluated by the UK Blueprint
Programme. In efforts to prevent problematic substance use, drug education may perpetuate myths
and stereotypes about psychoactive substances and people who use them
Drug education can also take less explicit forms; an example of this is the Positive Futures
Programme, funded by the UK government as part of its drug strategy. This programme
uses sport and the arts as catalysts to engage young people on their own turf, putting them in
contact with positive role models (coaches/trained youth workers). After building a trusting
relationship with a young person, these role models can gradually change attitudes towards drug
use and steer the young person back into education, training and employment. This approach
reaches young people who have dropped out of mainstream education. It also has additional
benefits for the community in reduced crime and anti-social behaviour

School-based drug education

School-based drug education began with the anti-alcohol "temperance education" programmes of
the Woman's Christian Temperance Union in the United States and Canada in the late 19th
century. In many respects, the WCTU's progressive education agenda set the template for much of
what has been done since in the name of drug education.
Past research into drug education has indicated that to be effective it must involve engaging,
interactive learning strategies that stimulate higher-order thinking, promote learning and be
transferable to real life circumstances. Current challenges from this approach exist in adopting
evidence-based school drug education programmes. Currently, in the majority of countries where
preventive drug education programs and courses exist, they are established and funded by the
Government. These education programs aim to educate adolescents about illicit drug use in an effort
to prevent illegal drug use while highlighting the dangers of problematic substance use.
The Australian Government has implemented a range of drug education programs through
the National Drug Education Strategy (NDES) by providing schools with effective drug education
programmes. The program aims to manage drug related issues and incidents within schools .
On 6 December 2015 the Australian Government Department of Health launched the Positive
Choices portal as part of its response to the findings from the National Ice Taskforce report. Positive
Choices is an online portal that facilitates access to interactive evidence-based drug education
resources and prevention programs for school communities. Positive Choices builds on existing drug
education resources developed by researchers at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre
(NDARC) such as the Climate Schools programs that have been proven to reduce alcohol and drug
related harms and increase student well-being.
The Australian Department of Health and Aging identified that analgesics (90%), alcohol (80-90%)
and tobacco (30-60%) were the most widely utilised substances among adolescents. In addition to
this, cannabis was another commonly used illicit substance that accounted for 33% usage among
adolescents aged 14–17 years
In addition to government funded programs, a number of not-for-profit organisations (such as Life
Education Australia also provide drug education programs to adolescents. These preventative
programs aim to deliver a progressive approach that will motivate and encourage young people to
make positive decisions in life. Emphasis within these programs is also placed in focusing on
deterring peer pressure as a means of empowering adolescents and promoting autonomy. This
approach reaches 750,000 primary and secondary students in Australia each year.

D.A.R.E, Drug Abuse Resistance Education

D.A.R.E stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education. In the United States, D.A.R.E is implemented
in elementary school classrooms, 5th grade to educate students on drugs effects and temptations
they may encounter. The program implemented in public and private school systems to prepare 5th
graders for middle school, as well as all further education.Although D.A.R.E is implemented to
prevent students from doing drugs in the future, there is little evidence to suggest it actually prevents
students from doing drugs. In the article, “Long-Term Impact of Drug Abuse Resistance Education”
by Dukes and Stein, a chi-squared test was performed to see if there was a significant difference
between high school students that received D.A.R.E training and those who did not receive D.A.R.E
and its relation to drug use. The study found that there is no significant difference between the drug
use of students that received D.A.R.E and students that did not. One of the main reasons the
authors mentioned D.A.R.E had little correlation with Drug use is that there are other external
causes that only affect some students, which can lead them into the direction of drug use.
Additionally, the time that students received D.A.R.E (5th grade), and the time that the students
encounter drugs may be many years after, so students may have little remembrance of the program.
However, the United States schools continue to implement the program in classrooms because the
police officers that come into classrooms can serve as community role models to students, and all
students are different so it may steer them away from drugs in the future.

Steroid use in high schools

Steroid use is a common form of drug use in high schools across the United States. Many students,
specifically males, use steroids to increase their performance in athletic events. Many professional
athletes, for example professional cyclist, Lance Armstrong, and former professional MLB player,
Alex Rodriguez both were nationally recognized as steroid users. Additionally in an article in
the Journal of Molecular & Cellular Endocrinology, it states that in a survey of 212 Canadian national
track athletes, over 10% of them would take an illegal drug if it was undetectable, if it could help
them win an Olympic gold medal.Many adolescents idolize athletes, so when they find out there is a
way to enhance their performance, and that elite athletes are using them, steroids may be used by
students.
An article in the Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse ran a study on two southern
California high schools in middle class suburbs, and the high school students use of Anabolic
Androgenic Steroids. It surveyed students on if they use steroids, knew the side effects of steroids,
and additionally their use of other prevalent drugs. The article specifically found that male students
that were athletes were more likely to use steroids than students that are female or non- athlete
students in general. Most students that participated in steroids played the sports, football or soccer,
and were most likely to do steroids if they participated in both sports. Professional sports, influence
young athletes, and when pro- athletes participate in drugs, it can lead young adults to use drugs
without realizing the side effects and consequences that come along with drug use.
Also, a study in the journal of Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy discusses alcohol and drug
prevention programs in Australia for students in grades 8 and 9. It goes into detail about the
student's between 13 and 15 years old, to see if alcohol and drug prevention programs have an
actual effect on preventing substance abuse. The study comes to conclusion that when the students
went through a drug and alcohol prevention program, they were less likely to develop a drug or
alcohol problem.

Technology and Drug Education

The University of North Carolina Greensboro has researched the drug prevention program, All Stars,
Sr.,. The program is developing education through technology (videos), so that health education
programs could reach schools in rural communities. The technology programs would provide drug/
health education in general with qualified instructors, in areas that do not have programs.

Implementation
Recent studies have identified that a gap between the theory of education programmes and the
implementation exists. This is regards to the collaborative learning approach and difficulties with
teachers adopting these interactive drug education programmes. The practical implications of these
findings are that professional training and support are required to increase the effectiveness of
teaching staff, and the uniform implementation of drug curriculum. Additional drug education
research in the future should acknowledge the complexities of implementing these programmes in a
school environment. Furthermore, additional support for teachers, counselors, school administrators
and other education professionals should be integrated as a means of being realistic about what
constitutes effective drug education and maintaining a high quality standard .

Objective : Determine the impact of drug use and addiction on individuals, families, peers, and
society

The effects of drug use, including nicotine, affect not just the individual but also his or her family,
friends, and peers. Families and friends can be negatively impacted by drug use not just from the
stress of seeing a loved one suffer through addiction but also through financial impacts. SUDs
commonly affect the structure of a family because of divorce or the need to fill different roles to
compensate for neglect of responsibilities by the drug user. There is also an increased risk for
interpersonal violence and child abuse and neglect (both physical and emotional), and these factors
can lead to diminished attachments to parents and others, impaired self-regulation and problem-
solving, decreased development of prosocial attitudes and behaviors, and impairment of healthy
development. Indeed, parental drug use can have profound effects on children, from direct effects of
using drugs while pregnant (e.g., neonatal abstinence syndrome) to impacts on perceptions of
normative behaviors. Children of parents who abuse drugs have a greater risk for SUDs, depression,
exposure to violence, and other health outcomes.
Drug use, including tobacco, also has significant effects on society, including public health outcomes
related to chronic disease (cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD]) and the spread
of infectious diseases (HIV and HCV); public safety hazards such as crime, violence, and drugged
driving; and a large economic burden associated with increased health care costs, lost productivity,
and criminal justice costs.3 Understanding these consequences and the factors that influence their
expression is critical for developing effective prevention, treatment, and mitigation strategies; for
guiding development of laws and policies related to drug use; and for targeting limited resources to
the efforts that will have the most potent effects.

Approaches

 Determine the impact of drug use and SUDs on public health outcomes

 Clarify the impact of drug use and addiction on families and peers

 Measure the societal costs associated with drug use and addiction

Diagram: Public health model

 The three components that lead to the drug use experience are:

 the individual;
 the environment; and
 the drug.

Intervention approaches:

 primary prevention

 secondary prevention

 tertiary prevention

 Moral Model - Views addiction as a sin or a moral weakness

 Psycho-dynamic Model - Asserts childhood traumas are associated with how we cope or do not
cope as adults

 Disease Model - Argues that the origins of addiction lie in the individual themselves

 Social Learning Model - Suggests that dependence exists on a continuum and consists of a
number of behavioural and cognitive elements
 Public Health Model - Drug use seen as the interaction between the drug, the individual and the
environment

 Socio-cultural Model - Argues that substance abuse should be examined in a wider social
context and can be linked to inequality