>>>I would much rather see those same tax dollars go towards education and structured rehabs in every locale...
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>Trouble is that kids these days know that drugs are bad but proceed regardless because they've added total self-indulgence to that sense of being bullet-proof that many of us shared. ;-) Even if you use shock tactics for education the effects are short-lived because so many kids believe that life is about doing whatever feels right at a given moment and that as long as you can afford it, there are no consequences in life.

For a while now, I've been thinking another factor is that young people today are not sufficiently exposed to danger in their formative years.

Modern society is increasingly risk-averse, and cocoons children. As a result, they don't get to test their capabilities in serious situations with serious consequences. So, they engage in behaviours that are, or that society believes to be, dangerous - drugs, unprotected sex, risky driving, post-hockey rioting etc.

Western society is probably the safest it's ever been, so we're seeing what's arguably the highest incidence ever of these behaviours in young people.

IMO education isn't, and can't be the answer - they need exposure to danger. And no, you can't do that safely.