Oct 06 Vol. 4 No. 4
Schools have always provided something of a captiveaudience for our society to promote messages abouteverything from good nutrition to moral values. And drugeducation has been no different. For years, health workers,teachers and even police have used the venue to teachstudents about the potential dangers of alcohol, tobaccoand illicit drugs.
In this issue, we explore what works in school drugeducation. We look at the trends in presentation approaches,as well as taking a moment to look at the lessons tobe learnt from the way we have tackled drug education inthe past.
And of course, the attitudes and decisions young peoplemake both at home and school will influence the way theyuse alcohol and other drugs throughout their lives.Researchers Ken Pidd and Ann Roche follow this journeyand write about a little discussed but vulnerable periodin the lives of adolescents – their transition from schoolinto the workplace and how this may impact on theirsubstance use.
Keeping with the theme of drugs and young people, wealso hear from a group of adolescents in South Sydney,who have turned their own experiences of substance misuseand mental health into a powerful drama.
Drug Action Week 2006 culminated in the prestigious NationalDrug and Alcohol Awards. This annual event honouredpeople and programs from across the country. It is inspiringto read about the work and dedication of so many individualswho work with drug and alcohol issues. Turn to page 10for our coverage of this annual event.
As usual, Of Substance has many regular features whichcontinue to be of interest to readers. We report on thefindings of recent research studies, drug sector news andresources as well as continue our series on research methods,this time looking at action research. For your convenience,we are also publishing an index of all our 2006 articles. 
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