Virtual masters in drug addiction studies.

• Author: Friedman, Samantha
• Position: Inter-American System

In October 2002, a diverse group of 127 government officials, economists, lawyers, nurses, policemen, psychiatrists, social workers, and teachers embarked on a virtual educational voyage that would end almost two years later, at a ceremony held April 27, 2004, at CICAD (Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission) headquarters at the OAS. The brain child of Dr. Yolanda Marquez, Latin American coordinator of the M.A. in Drug Addictions Studies now offered by the OAS, this program stemmed from the goal to further educate professionals working in substance-abuse treatment and prevention without interrupting their employment throughout the duration of study. A principal reason for the creation of an online program, rather than an Intensive seminar or workshop, was to reach students residing far from capital cities. Through the cooperation of OAS, CICAD, Spain's National Plan Against Drugs, and a consortium of eight universities, eighty-two students from forty-eight towns in seventeen countries constituted the first class ever to graduate with an online master's degree in addictions studies this past spring.

The April ceremony brought together the soon-to-be graduates and the coordinators of the member universities of the UNIREDDROGAS consortium. In addition to Spain's National University of Distance Education (UNED), which administers the online WebCT platform, seven Spanish and Latin American universities were tatted to create a virtual drug addiction studies network. The UNED, the University Foundation of Luis Amigo (Colombia), Costa Rica's National University of Distance Education (UNED Costa Rica), Deusto University (Spain), Miguel Hernandez University (Spain), Cayetano Heredia Peruvian University, Federico Villareal National University (Peru), and Simon Rodriguez National Experimental University (Venezuela) were chosen because they already offered established degree pro grams in drug addiction studies. "The greatest challenge was sitting at a table and creating a common curriculum with authorities from eight universities, each with their own agendas and internal guidelines," says Maria Eugenia Perez, OAS international coordinator of the online M.A.

The M.A. was designed to assist hi meeting the goal of reducing drug demand throughout the Americas. A 2003 CICAD study of illegal drug consumption in the region found that the average age at which polled students initiated consumption was fourteen, and as low as twelve and a half in some...