This booklet discusses obstacles to effective drug education programs and suggests components that should be included in order to ensure effective programs. The first section presents six questions to ask of one's drug education program, noting that a poorly conceived program can do more harm than good. The second section focuses on convincing students to delay beginning use of alcohol. Ten warning signs of drug and alcohol use are presented in the third section. These signs range from a drop in grades to a display of obvious behavior associated with intoxication or drug use. The fourth section discusses confronting social attitudes toward alcohol use. This section describes myths associated with alcohol use and the distorted messages which children receive from beer commercials. The fifth section provides the following suggestions for designing effective drug education programs: (1) articulate goals of the program; (2) focus on the gateway drugs; (3) start early; (4) plan a comprehensive program; (5) provide teacher inservice; (6) mobilize positive peer pressure; (7) involve parent networking; and (8) build evaluation into the program. An annotated bibliography of references and resources is included. (ABL)