Drug education: Ethics and effectiveness draws on social scientific research methods to investigate the relationship between young people’s experiences and understandings of alcohol and other drugs and drug education efforts.

Led by Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow Dr Adrian Farrugia, the project builds on the efforts to educate young people about alcohol and other drugs and reduce related harms more generally.

It draws on approaches to education in other domains of health such as relationships and sexual health, approaches to food and nutrition and, health and physical education to inform efforts to educate young people about alcohol and other drugs.

Significantly, the meanings and harms associated with alcohol and other drug use are known to be shaped by gender and sexuality. However, not enough is known about how gender and sexuality shape young people’s experiences of drug education or how these dimensions of alcohol and other drug use inform these initiatives. These dimensions of young people’s alcohol and other drug use are a key focus of this project.

This project is funded through an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship grant and supported by La Trobe University. It is based the at Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS) La Trobe University. ARCSHS is a centre for the social research into sexuality, health and the social dimensions of human relationships. It works collaboratively with communities, community-based organisations, government and professionals in relevant fields to produce research that advances knowledge and promotes positive change.