Expected time of activity: 30 minutes for each. You may choose to do both activities one after the other, depending on available time.
Activity1 or Activity 2
Activity 1: Ask participants to discuss stereotypical images of the drug user. Then examine the’ differences’ between a drug user and a nondrug user. The exercise requires that participants step into the role of a stereotypical depiction of a drug user. The goal of the exercise is to encourage participants to examine stereotypes of drug users and also to bring into discussion the reasons that some people use drugs.
Key points in the discussion:
o A drug user can be anyone in a society o Drug users are diverse( e. g., different ages, genders, cultural backgrounds, social statuses, incomes) o Most drug users have friends, families, jobs, health problems, personal problems, etc., just like people who don’ t use drugs
Activity 2: Form groups of four role-play four attitudes that illustrate the most common intervention models for addressing drug use. Depending on time, you may ask them to simply perform these roles with one another in small groups or pick four people to perform these roles in front of the whole group.
The four roles are:
1. The drug user(” I am a victim of my peers”) 2. The police officer(” drug users are offenders”) 3. The doctor(” drug addiction is an illness like any other”) 4. The addiction specialist(” addiction has many causes and can only be solved through a multi-disciplinary intervention”)
At the end of the activity, participants who played the different roles will present their feelings / states of mind during the exercise and will state one strong point and one weak point about the attitude they represented. It’ s important that you facilitate a dialogue about the