THE TRUTH ABOUT DRUGS
MULTIMEDIA EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS

Drawing on decades of experience in drug prevention, the Truth About Drugs program effectively communicates the reality of drug abuse to teens and young adults, both individually and through mass communication.

Experience and surveys show that teens and young adults are most likely to listen to their peers. Thus, the core drug-free message is delivered by young people—some of whom have gone down the path of addiction and survived to tell their stories—speaking to other young people through booklets, public service announcements and a documentary film.

The cornerstone of the program is a series of 15 fact-filled booklets that, without relying on scare tactics, inform about drugs, empowering young people to make their own decisions to live drug-free.

The series consists of an overview booklet and one booklet for each of the most commonly abused drugs:

• Cocaine
• Crack cocaine
• Crystal meth
• Ecstasy
• Fentanyl
• Heroin
• Inhalants
• LSD
• Painkillers
• Prescription drugs
• Ritalin
• Synthetic drugs

Each booklet describes how the drug works, its mental and physical effects and the short- and long-term consequences of abusing it. Reinforcing the information are firsthand accounts from former users telling about life on drugs. The booklets dispel myths by presenting the facts about the effects of each drug. They have been translated into 23 languages and distributed worldwide.