Doctors, Lawyers Team Up to Teach Kids About Drugs

How does marijuana affect my body? How do I say no to a friend who offers me drugs? Are all drugs bad? Can the principal search my locker? How can I get my mom to stop smoking? These are a few of the many questions asked by children during a drug education program sponsored by the Harris County Medical Society and the Houston Bar Association.

Dubbed the "Interprofessional Drug Education Alliance, or IDEA, Program," the program teams doctors and lawyers who twice a year visit elementary and middle schools to have frank discussions with kids about the realities of substance abuse. Physicians inform the students about how abusing drugs, alcohol and tobacco can damage their minds and growing bodies, while lawyers discuss the perils that await youth who enter the criminal justice system. In its ninth year, the program has reached more than 15,000 students in many local school districts.

"Our children are being inundated with prescription and nonprescription drugs, tobacco and alcohol," said Dr. Susan Dobbs Curling, president of the Harris County Medical Society. "They need to be informed about the side-effects for their bodies and their futures."

Last month, 26 doctor/lawyer teams fanned out across the city, educating 1,600 students about the medical and legal consequences of drug and alcohol use. "Show and tell" aids such as handcuffs, jail attire, and photographs helped stimulate the discussions.

Dr. Victor Scarano, chief of forensic psychiatry services at Baylor College of Medicine and the Harris County Hospital District, visited Spring Branch Elementary School with his daughter, Jennifer Hasley, an attorney with the State Bar of Texas. The father/ daughter team fielded two hours of questions from curious fifth-graders.

"We participate in this program because we care about kids. Maybe something they hear today will set them on the right course for the rest of their lives," said Dr. Scarano, who is also a lawyer.

Brenda Oliver, school counselor at Spring Branch Elementary, said fifth-graders are especially vulnerable to peer pressure.

"They're leaving elementary school, where they were the oldest students, for middle school, where they are the youngest students. Peer pressure becomes intense. This is when many either go right or go wrong, and the path they choose follows them forever," Oliver said.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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