NCJ Number
175044
Date Published
1998
Length
77 pages
Annotation
This report is based on presentations and discussions at the U.S.-Mexico Bi-National Demand Reduction Conference held in El Paso, Tex., March 18-20, 1998.
Abstract
Researchers, practitioners, and treatment and prevention experts from both nations came together in El Paso to share their expertise, exchange ideas, and strengthen cooperation in reducing drug use. The conference was an important step in developing a mutual understanding of how best to reduce drug demand and develop a strategy to achieve this goal. The conference produced eight pivotal strategy areas upon which continued implementation should focus. One strategy area is research cooperation and the exchange of technical information to provide the building blocks of sound science-based initiatives. Another strategy area involves influencing the media to decrease their contribution to drug use and increase the use of public information to prevent substance abuse in Mexico and the United States. A third strategy area involves the use of community participation as a method to organize citizens, the faith community, and public agencies to combat drugs at the local level. Other strategies that emerged from the conference were a focus on the prevention of drug use among youth and among special populations at risk for substance abuse; workplace prevention and intervention efforts; drug-use prevention and the prevention of HIV/AIDS; and a focus on violence and drug-related problems, especially at the Mexican-American border.