Fighting drug use among young people in India through edutainment

Substance use is a major public health challenge in Punjab, where an estimated 4.5% of adults use heroin and almost 35% of households have at least one person living with a substance use disorder (AIIMS, 2019; Times of India, 2019). Rural areas are especially affected by the problem, partly because of their proximity to major heroin trafficking routes.

Authorities have tried a range of responses — awareness campaigns, rehabilitation programmes, law enforcement measures — but fear-based approaches have consistently shown limited effectiveness. Research indicates that misconceptions about the risks of drug use encourage experimentation and harmful behaviours (Rodrigues et al., 2018; Sutherland & Shepherd, 2001). A preliminary survey conducted by the research team among 100 people in recovery and 210 young people revealed the scale of these misconceptions: 52% of students believed that willpower alone is enough to overcome a heroin addiction; 54% considered experimentation low-risk; 58% thought a single detox programme was sufficient to prevent relapse; and 80% of people with dependency were unaware of the addictive potential of drugs when they first used them.

Edutainment approaches have demonstrated effectiveness in correcting this type of belief and reducing risky behaviours in comparable contexts, including Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Uganda (Banerjee et al., 2019; Bernard et al., 2014; Riley, 2018).

The project aims to evaluate an edutainment approach — a blend of entertainment and education — to correct these misconceptions and reduce drug use among young people. Building on promising preliminary results from school-based pilots, the project uses FID funding to scale the intervention to all vocational training institutes across Punjab.

It comprises two key components:

• Component 1: Engaging educational content. The research team has developed ten documentary-style videos featuring young people in recovery, complemented by interactive quizzes, structured classroom discussions, and practical activities. The deliberately narrative format is designed to foster identification rather than fear, drawing on real-life stories to make risks tangible and credible.
• Component 2: Phased rollout and rigorous evaluation. The programme unfolds in two stages:

1. Academic year 2025–2026 — full rollout: The programme is currently being delivered across all ITIs (as well as the polytechnics originally assigned to the intervention group). In the ITIs, the curriculum runs over five sessions — one introductory session followed by four content sessions — from early December 2025 to late March 2026. In the intervention polytechnics, seven sessions are delivered to first- and second-year students between late October 2025 and late March 2026. On a pilot basis, drug testing incentives were trialed in four polytechnics to assess feasibility and student uptake.
2. Academic year 2026–2027 — randomised controlled trial (RCT): The original RCT will be conducted in the next academic year, retaining the initial treatment and control group assignments. Data will be collected through baseline and follow-up surveys, anonymous voluntary individual drug tests, and wastewater analysis. Since ITIs offer one-year programmes, no student from the current cohort should appear in the RCT sample. Polytechnics offer two- or three-year programmes, so some students may be present in both years; their prior exposure to the programme will be verified during the baseline survey and cross-checked with attendance records to preserve the integrity of the control group.

Pilots conducted in 2023 and 2024, followed by a rollout across 76 schools in Amritsar and Tarn Taran reaching 10,000 students, have already produced encouraging results on beliefs: the view that willpower alone is sufficient to overcome addiction fell by 26.6 percentage points; the belief that a single detox programme prevents relapse dropped by 10 points; and belief in the exclusive effectiveness of medication fell by 18.3 points.

The 2026–2027 RCT will seek to demonstrate that these shifts translate into measurable behavioural change. Expected impacts span three areas:

• Beliefs: the team anticipates a 4 to 12 percentage point improvement on key drug-related misconceptions, in line with results from the pilots.
• Drug use: estimates suggest a reduction of approximately 1.7 percentage points in the rate of use detected through anonymous individual tests.
• Education and employment: the project anticipates a 3.7 percentage point increase in graduate employment rates, a 3.8 point reduction in school dropout rates, and a 3.7 point improvement in attendance.

Beyond these projected outcomes, the programme is already operating at scale across Punjab. Convinced by the early evidence of impact on individual beliefs, the Punjab government expanded the programme to all secondary schools from July 2025 and is considering embedding it formally in the curriculum from 2026–2027. The videos will also be distributed on YouTube to reach young people outside the school system.

Ressources:

• Preventing Drug Use: A Novel Film-based Curriculum, 2025