Short answer. Yes. Under Section 43 of Republic Act No. 9165, instruction on drug abuse prevention and control must be integrated into the elementary, secondary and tertiary curricula of all public and private schools, and even into non-formal, informal and indigenous learning systems. It is required, not optional.
What the law says
Instruction on drug abuse prevention and control shall be integrated in the elementary, secondary and tertiary curricula of all public and private schools
RA 9165, Section 43 — Drug Education In Schools. Read the full provision →
What the law says
as well as in non-formal, informal and indigenous learning systems
RA 9165, Section 43 — Drug Education In Schools. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Adverse effects of the abuse and misuse of dangerous drugs on the person, the family, the school and the community
RA 9165, Section 43 — Drug Education In Schools. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Steps to take when intervention on behalf of a drug dependent is needed
RA 9165, Section 43 — Drug Education In Schools. Read the full provision →
What the law says
Misconceptions about the use of dangerous drugs
RA 9165, Section 43 — Drug Education In Schools. Read the full provision →
What the law says
to avoid confusion and accidental stigmatization in the consciousness of the students
RA 9165, Section 43 — Drug Education In Schools. Read the full provision →
The requirement is mandatory and broad
Section 43 does not merely permit drug education — it mandates it. Instruction on drug abuse prevention and control shall be integrated in the elementary, secondary and tertiary curricula of all public and private schools, whether general, technical, vocational or agro-industrial, as well as in non-formal, informal and indigenous learning systems. The word "shall" makes it a duty, and the coverage is deliberately wide: no level of schooling and no type of school is left out. A private academy, a state university and a community-based non-formal program are all within the reach of this provision.
What the instruction must cover
The law also fixes the content, so drug education cannot be a token mention. The instruction must include the Adverse effects of the abuse and misuse of dangerous drugs on the person, the family, the school and the community; preventive measures against drug abuse; and the health, socio-cultural, psychological, legal and economic dimensions of the drug problem. It must also teach the Steps to take when intervention on behalf of a drug dependent is needed, along with the services available for treatment and rehabilitation. The curriculum is meant to be practical and informative, not merely cautionary.
Correcting misconceptions is part of the mandate
Notably, Section 43 requires teaching about Misconceptions about the use of dangerous drugs, including the importance and safety of dangerous drugs for medical and therapeutic use, and the difference between medical patients and drug dependents. The aim stated in the law is to avoid confusion and accidental stigmatization in the consciousness of the students. In other words, the curriculum must not simply frighten students; it must help them distinguish legitimate medical use from abuse, so that patients who lawfully use regulated medicines are not wrongly branded. This balance is written into the statute itself.
What the provision does not do
Section 43 sets the duty to teach; it does not, by itself, spell out a penalty for a school that fails, prescribe the exact lesson hours, or name the office that writes the syllabus — those details sit elsewhere in the law and its implementing rules. Nor does it turn a student's classroom answers into evidence, or make the school responsible for policing drug offenses. Its office is narrower and clearer: to ensure that prevention, the health and legal facts, and the correction of myths reach every learner, at every level, in every school.