Drug Education News

Karl Witty on the National Collaborating Centre’s website looks into the relationship between celebrity and young people’s drug use. While saying, “Certain young people may therefore use celebrity drug use as a means to inform their own actions, depending on whether their idols report positively or negatively on the experience” Witty goes on to add a large note of caution:

Whilst the celebrity has come to occupy a key role in the lives of many young people, its influence must not be overstated. Young people do not form their opinions on drugs and drug use solely from media personalities. Young people are informed about drugs and drug use through a wide variety of sources such as music (Herd, 2005), drugs education in schools (e.g. White & Pitts, 1998), local and national drug prevention campaigns (e.g. FRANK), peer interaction (Bandura, 1986), and their own personal experiences, much of which is both conflicting and confusing. [more]