The Girl Scouts still give out badges, but now they also receive glossy magazines called "In The Zone: Living Drug Free."

The new program in Natrona County is funded by a three-year grant of $6,000 as part of a 21st Century State Incentive Grant from the state of Wyoming Substance Abuse Division. The goal is to educate pre-teen and teenage girls about the dangers of drugs.

Kids get one of four different workbooks, depending on their age, with progressively complicated explanations of what certain drugs can do and how to avoid them.

While younger kids may not grasp the message about drugs, "it's a great way to get a dialogue going about healthy living," said Jamie Purcell of the Girl Scouts Outreach Program.

Purcell said she went through the program with 120 kids in kindergarten through grade 6 at a day camp this past summer.

"The kids loved it," said Purcell. "I think it's a much better program than anything I had when I was their age."

Larissa Jacobs, 11, did the program this summer and said the magazine was fun.

"I liked just reading it, I like to read things and find out information," said Larissa, a student at Woods Learning Center.

Larissa said she learned, for example, that smoking low-tar cigarettes generally does not help minimize lung damage since smokers will inhale more deeply or smoke more to get their nicotine rush.

The magazines for older girls are made to look like Teen People, YM and other glossies for teens aged 14 to 17.

They contain the standard quizzes, factoids and "it happened to me" articles seen in mainstream magazines, but all the articles have an anti-drug message.

"I started smoking weed when I was 12. It messed up my life," reads one testimonial in the magazine. Some of the pieces try to scare - "My best friend died in her sleep," reads one testimonial about ecstasy - but the tone is generally educational.

Girl Scouts USA conceived the program as part of their research into teen issues. Other programs deal with child obesity, sports and government awareness.

Brenda Eickhoff-Johnson, of the Natrona County Prevention Coalition at the Mercer House, will test the program's effectiveness.

Eickhoff-Johnson will administer a test before and after the program to evaluate a child's attitude toward drugs, and what she perceives the attitude of the parents and peers to be.

She will also look at girls' "self esteem and all of those things that insulate kids from getting involved in alcohol, drugs and tobacco."