A new drug education curriculum, focusing on alcohol, cannabis, and prescription drugs, is being introduced to junior high students in Nova Scotia.
Health Minister Leo Glavine says there have been too many tragic deaths related to the misuse of prescriptions pills and other substances.
“The drug education curriculum for junior high schools is the first of its kind in Canada, that's pretty special,” says Glavine.
Glavine pushed for it in opposition, now, as health minister, he introduced the curriculum for Nova Scotia students in grades seven to nine.
“I consider, based on my career, to be probably the three most vulnerable years when our youth will make decisions about what they're going to try and experiment with,” says Glavine.
The health minister says it is not an add on, or special class, it’s part of the curriculum.
Lesson plans are aimed at getting students talking about the pressures and influences that may lead to alcohol, cannabis, and prescription drug use.
Dale Jollota has been pushing for this sort of curriculum. Her 15-year-old daughter Olivia died nearly three years ago, after she and a friend inhaled half the contents of two hydromorphone capsules.
“I spoke to all of Olivia's friends after she passed, nobody had received any information specific about prescription drugs,” says Jollota.
More than 300 teachers and counsellors have taken part in training sessions so far.
Dan O’Leary is a guidance counsellor and was part of the team that piloted the material.
“I noticed many more students involved, many more students who typically sit in the back and maybe just not say anything, speaking their voices and being heard,” says O’Leary.
Trine Good lost her 21-year-old son to a drug overdose, a mix of cocaine and prescription pills, more than two years ago.
She says there is a misconception that prescription drugs must be safe because they’re prescribed by doctors.
“With this new curriculum and more education into more detail, I think it will help clarify some of that,” says Good.
Students who have been exposed to the curriculum say including lessons about prescription drugs is a good addition.
“We learned about something that happened in the past about it and also ways of coping with it and ways of asking for help,” says grade nine student Claire James.
Jollota says she is glad her daughter’s death has not been in vain.
“I think she'd be proud, I really do, you know I think she's looking down at this and she's going you know, my friends are going to be protected, my younger siblings are going to be protected,” says Jollota.
The curriculum is ready to go and will be used throughout the remainder of the school year.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Jackie Foster
