Drugs and the body--it isn't pretty.

Dear Teacher,

This poster is a graphic tour of a body affected by various drugs of abuse. When your students observe the gross zits, tar-covered lungs, and yellow teeth, we imagine they'll agree that drug use "isn't pretty," as our title declares.

You can use this poster as part of the larger drug education program Heads Up: Real News About Drugs and Your Body, a series of articles from Scholastic and the scientists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). You can also use it as a stand-alone teaching unit. In addition to the annotated body for your classroom wall, you'll find six skills sheets.

As students investigate the images and complete the accompanying activities, they'll not only obtain important information about how drug abuse harms the brain and the body, they'll also be honing valuable skills that are probably already part of your teaching goals--skills like chart reading, vocabulary building, and critical thinking.

We hope these materials enrich your classroom.

The Editors

A note about our illustrator: Stephen Kroninger Is a freelance collage artist. His illustrations have appeared in nearly every major newspaper and magazine In the United States. His work was the subject of an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. He lives in New York City with his wife and two daughters.