"Our Favorite Drugs" Infographic

GOOD Magazine publishes a Transparency every week on their website, which is full of infographics relating to many diverse topics. Since browsing through their website for the first time, I've added a few feeds to my Google Reader account! GOOD also keeps an archive of their transparencies on flickr.

The infographic "Our Favorite Drugs" puts drug use into a visual form, using information from local law enforcement officials who were asked by the Department of Justice which drugs posed the greatest danger to their local communities.

This visual is an easy addition to any drug unit. The sky is the limit to the types of questioning or reasoning the students could use; the teacher could even use this as a type of unit activator by asking students to predict drug use in different parts of the country before showing students the infographic. Students can look at the infographic, attempting to infer why certain drugs are more problematic in some parts of the country as opposed to others; to examine regional, local, and other (cultural, geographic, etc) differences; to predict future trends of drug use.  Note that alcohol is not included in this infographic. The visuals might be a little confusing at first, but it becomes clear once you see how it's set up.

I can't embed the copyrighted image, and if you missed the link above, you can check out "Our Favorite Drugs" in GOOD Magazine's flickr account by clicking here. I've also recently discovered some infographics online from TIME as well; check back in the near future for a post on those infographics.