The WHOA program is a structured refusal skills program developed by the Drug Education Center, Inc. Students receive instruction in 3 sessions lasting 50 minutes each. They are taught how to develop the specific skills of saying no to drugs and other potential troubles that students potentially face and are given strategies for dealing with situations in which the pressure is extended or increased. The program was used with seventh-grade health class students in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System during 1987-88. The evaluation used a pre-test, post-test design with 10 treatment and 6 control classes. The control classes received the program during the following semester. Results unexpectedly showed that a significant proportion of the students in the program felt that it was more difficult to refuse at the time of the post-test than at the time of the pre-test. Findings indicated the need to offer such a program to younger students and either to provide it in conjunction with an existing longer-term prevention program or to reinforce it regularly through classroom exercises. Tables and 17 references.