Should Be Required Viewing in Every High School

Yeah, I think you could, if you cut out the really graphic sex parts.

More than just teaching kids about the dangers of drugs, there's so much to discuss about the backgrounds of these people and why they make the decisions they make, where they go wrong, etc. Plus, there's a lot to talk about re: the techniques they used to make the movie. Obviously it could really grab a kid's attention and teach him/her some things at the same time. Especially if a teacher or adult helped them to understand it better.

It's not really a movie for kids.

Missyrocks:
I agree with you in theory, but it depends on the age and maturity level of the students. I believe I was fifteen when I first saw this, and it didn't scar me or anything, I was just extremely fascinated by the film--I had never seen anything like it.
However, my fascination stemming from the drug scenes were not 100 percent positive. I still had that youthful mindset of 'that could never happen to me', which is dangerous. I almost wanted to try heroin (I was smoking weed and drinking then, and still managing to function). Thankfully I never tried heroin, but I had friends who did coke and popped pills.
When I rewatched this in my early twenties, the darkness of the film really settled in, and drugs really didn't seem cool anymore, or like a 'prove yourself' type challenge that it had seemed to my fifteen year old mind.
So maybe with a guide--a mature adult to help explain more in depth what is going on--and some editing of the more graphic sequences, this could be a helpful experience to some high schoolers, but maybe not in the actual classroom. Maybe as an extracurricular with written consent from the parents/guardians.