NCJ Number
164645
Date Published
1991
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This analysis of drug abuse and the premises of drug prevention programs over the past 20 years concludes that a broader, more comprehensive, and multifaceted approach to prevention is needed that takes into account a variety of societal and cultural factors while also focusing on context issues.
Abstract
The increasing politicization of the drug issue has important implications for the prevention of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use by youth. Although it has increased public awareness of the issue and created a situation conducive to action, it has generated an atmosphere of emergency exemplified by the popular metaphor of a war. In addition, the public has tended to ignore tobacco and alcohol, although they are much more widely used and associated with far greater damage than other drugs. It is now clear that prevention must rest on several principles. Among these are that drug problems are complex and cannot be reduced solely to the level of individual behavior, that an integrated approach to prevention is needed, that long-term strategies rather than crisis approaches are needed, and that information about drugs is necessary but not sufficient to produce behavior changes. Comprehensive programs that approach drug-related problems from a variety of perspectives are crucial. Prevention needs to be practical as well as visionary and idealistic, and inconsistencies in the way society addresses drug issues must be recognized and overcome. 75 references