Midford Richard
National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Australia.
Drug Alcohol Rev. 2007 Jul;26(4):421-7. doi: 10.1080/09595230701373842.
School drug education is seen by governments as an ideal prevention strategy because it offers the potential to stop use by the next generation. Australian schools expanded drug education substantially during the 1960s in response to rising use by young people, and in 1970 the first national drug education programme was launched. In the mid-1990s the level and quality of drug education increased noticeably. Unfortunately, subsequent national initiatives have failed to capitalise on the gains made during this period. Some good quality, independent research, such as the Gatehouse Project and the School Health and Alcohol Harm Reduction Project (SHAHRP), has been conducted in Australia. However, national-level momentum is being lost, because there is little commitment to the development of evidence-based mass programmes. In this climate drug education has become vulnerable to short-term decision-making that emphasises palatable, policy-driven outcomes and focuses on strategies designed to bolster the legitimacy of these goals. So is Australia 'fair dinkum' about drug education in schools? There is a history of innovation, and past programmes have left behind pockets of expertise, but the challenge is to invest continuously in methods with evidence of success, rather than settle for cyclical programmes driven by the political and moral palliatives of the day. To do less is to fail the young people of Australia.
学校毒品教育被各国政府视为一种理想的预防策略，因为它有潜力阻止下一代吸毒。20世纪60年代，随着年轻人吸毒现象的增加，澳大利亚学校大幅扩大了毒品教育，1970年启动了首个全国性毒品教育项目。20世纪90年代中期，毒品教育的水平和质量显著提高。不幸的是，随后的国家举措未能利用这一时期取得的成果。澳大利亚开展了一些高质量的独立研究，如盖特豪斯项目和学校健康与酒精危害减少项目（SHAHRP）。然而，国家层面的发展势头正在丧失，因为对基于证据的大规模项目的开发缺乏投入。在这种情况下，毒品教育容易受到短期决策的影响，这种决策强调易于接受的、政策驱动的结果，并侧重于旨在增强这些目标合法性的策略。那么澳大利亚在学校毒品教育方面是“认真的”吗？澳大利亚有创新的历史，过去的项目也留下了一些专业知识，但挑战在于持续投资于有成功证据的方法，而不是满足于由当下政治和道德缓和措施驱动的周期性项目。做得更少就是辜负澳大利亚的年轻人。
