"This publication does not offer a pre-packaged programme of education for drug abuse prevention that can be picked up and implemented. It is rather an attempt to provide a conceptual basis upon which teachers, policy makers and school administrators can make decisions about school based drug prevention programmes in order to achieve greater success in education terms" -- p. 6.

As the nation's drug crisis has deepened, public and private agencies have invested huge sums of money in prevention efforts. Are the resulting programs effective? What do we need to know to make them more effective? This book provides a comprehensive overview on what we know about drug abuse prevention and its effectiveness, including: Results of a wide range of antidrug efforts. The role and effectiveness of mass media in preventing drug use. A profile of the drug problem, including a look at drug use by different population groups. A review of three major schools of prevention theory-risk factor reduction, developmental change, and social influence. An examination of promising prevention techniques from other areas of health and human services. This volume offers provocative findings on the connection between low self-esteem and drug use, the role of schools, the reality of changing drug use in the population, and more. Preventing Drug Abuse will be indispensable to anyone involved in the search for solutions, including policymakers, anti-drug program developers and administrators, and researchers.

"Drug Abuse Prevention: A School and Community Partnership, Third Edition", takes an evidence-based approach to teach students the important concepts and skills needed to design effective drug prevention programs. Covering more than just the facts, this text provides a background of drug use and abuse and presents the principles and skills of prevention, with particular focus on adolescents and school settings. It reinforces the importance of schools forming community partnerships with key institutions and the application of policy tools to enhance the impact of education alone. -- From publisher's description.

All across the United States, individuals, families, communities, and health care systems are struggling to cope with substance use, misuse, and substance use disorders. Substance misuse and substance use disorders have devastating effects, disrupt the future plans of too many young people, and all too often, end lives prematurely and tragically. Substance misuse is a major public health challenge and a priority for our nation to address. The effects of substance use are cumulative and costly for our society, placing burdens on workplaces, the health care system, families, states, and communities. The Report discusses opportunities to bring substance use disorder treatment and mainstream health care systems into alignment so that they can address a person's overall health, rather than a substance misuse or a physical health condition alone or in isolation. It also provides suggestions and recommendations for action that everyone-individuals, families, community leaders, law enforcement, health care professionals, policymakers, and researchers-can take to prevent substance misuse and reduce its consequences.

(Publisher-supplied data) This book represents the first systematic discussion of the Gateway Hypothesis, a developmental hypothesis formulated to model how adolescents initiate and progress in the use of various drugs. In the United States, this progression proceeds from the use of tobacco or alcohol to the use of marijuana and other illicit drugs. This volume presents a critical overview of what is currently known about the Gateway Hypothesis. The authors of the chapters explore the hypothesis from various perspectives ranging from developmental social psychology to prevention and intervention science, animal models, neurobiology and analytical methodology. This volume is original and unique in its purview, covering a broad view of the Gateway Hypothesis. The juxtaposition of epidemiological, intervention, animal and neurobiological studies represents a new stage in the evolution of drug research, in which epidemiology and biology inform one another in the understanding of drug abuse.