The third generation strategies evolve from a thorough needs assessment that determines the wishes and aspirations of young people in dealing with drug encounters. This approach does not assume that young people are intellectually and/or socially dispossessed. It credits the young with the ability to think rationally and clearly about what skills are appropriate to moderate their drug intake. The most important implications of adopting third generation drug education strategies are that no attitude change on the part of the target audience is required, that no moralizing to the target audience occurs, that the strategies have the approval of the target audience, and that educational hypotheses about which strategies are most likely to be effective can be tested at the needs assessment rather than at the program evaluation stage. 1 table and 35 references (Author abstract modified)