Dope truths

Young people who use drugs face risks not experienced by previous generations, according to adolescent medicine professor Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, PhD. Topping her list of concerns is the risk of fentanyl overdose from pills contaminated with the synthetic opioid. The proliferation of misinformation about addictive substances on social media, where, for instance, e-cigarette companies advertise their wares, also worries her.

To combat the risk of drug use among this population, Halpern-Felsher’s Stanford Medicine lab — the Research and Education to Empower Adolescents and Young Adults to Choose Health, or REACH, lab — develops toolkits that promote a harm-reduction approach, combining messages about the risks of substance use with information that can keep teens safer if they choose to use drugs.

“To help teens make good decisions, it’s important to give them information about how each substance affects their bodies, their brains and their development,” Halpern-Felsher said.

Free on the REACH lab’s website are drug-education lessons for elementary, middle and high school students. The lessons have been used by more than 20,000 teachers around the country and have reached more than 3 million students.

“It’s all about knowledge and empowerment, making sure young people understand what the drugs do,” said Halpern-Felsher, the Marron and Mary Elizabeth Kendrick Professor in Pediatrics II and the Taube Endowed Research Faculty Scholar.

Photo by Ground Picture/Shutterstock

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