The Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1986, the National Drug Control Strategy (1989-92), the Five-Year State Master Plan to Reduce Drug and Alcohol Abuse in California (1988-92), and the perspectives of education administrators (n=14) of drug prevention programs in select California public secondary schools (1994-95) were analyzed. The primary purpose of the analysis was to gauge the potential that the relationship between federal and California state drug policy formation, causation, and California school drug prevention program implementation has to discourage students from using drugs. Findings disclosed that the federal and California state government developed drug policies that generally are not compatible with the perspectives of the education administrators or the experiences of the target group--students. Furthermore, drug policies incorporated only a small portion of drug causation that theorists, researchers, drug experts, public officials, and community representatives and leaders identified. Moreover, federal and California state government established expectations that education administrators believed school drug prevention programs could not fulfill. Under these conditions, the relationship between federal and California state drug policy formation, causation, and California school drug prevention program implementation has little potential for reducing student drug use. Contains 20 references. (JBJ)