Canadian Youth do not put much Stock in Anti-Drug Approach

A National Organization may have a better way to Educate Young Canadians

A national youth and student drug reform organization says young Canadians do not put much stock in their government’s anti-drug approach. As a result, the organization has created a new website it believes may better educate young Canadians about the consequences of drug use.

Canadian Students for a Sensible Drug Policy designed www.not4me.org, which it says deviates from the government’s "just say no" approach, which it believes is ineffective in combating drug abuse in Canada.

"One of the biggest failings of previous youth drug education programs is that young people don’t them seriously," said Caleb Chepesiuk, CSSDP staff member. "We are providing a resource that gives young people serious, honest information on drugs and their risks and tips on how they can keep themselves and their friends safe through either avoiding drugs or by recognizing and preventing problematic substance use patterns before they start. It fails to acknowledge that young people use drugs."

CSSDP is concerned with the government’s decision to exclude alcohol, tobacco and drugs from its prevention strategies.

"By excluding alcohol from its drug strategy, when it is by far, the most common drug used by Canadian youth and is one with the most damaging effects on the brain of adolescents, our government is failing to take its responsibility and is putting our youth at risk," said Dr. Jean-Sebastian Fallu, an assistant professor in the department of psycho-education at the University of Montreal.

According to the Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey for 2009, the most commonly used drug is alcohol, with 58.2 percent of students in Canada saying they drank in the past year.