Facilitating positive attitude towards drugs through drug counselling programme: An imperative for national reconstruction and reformation

An experimental study was embarked upon to ascertain the effectiveness or otherwise of a drug counselling programme in facilitating the formation of positive attitudes by students toward drugs and substances. Through the stratified random sampling, five secondary schools in Jos North and Jos South Local Government Areas were chosen for the study. These five schools consisted of one Armed Forces School, two Missionary Schools, one State School and one University Demonstration School. The sample consisted of two hundred SS2 students, forty each from the five sampled schools. Two hypotheses were postulated and tested. Two research questions were also posed to guide the acquisition of relevant data. The instruments consisted of attitudes and beliefs scales. Analysis of data was done using t-test statistics. The finding of the study revealed that the programme had a significant positive effect on the attitude and belief system of the experimental group of students. The implications of this study are that Drug Counselling Programme be incorporated into the counsellor education programme of all training institutions and that the counsellor should be part of the team involved in the crusade against drug use and abuse. Consequently, it was suggested that drug demand reduction programmed be given more priority as against drug supply and trafficking reduction as is the case in Nigeria today. The Nigerian Journal of Guidance and Counselling Vol. 8 (1) 2002: pp. 1-1