Prevention Tools: What works, what doesn’t

Knowing what works in prevention, and what doesn’t, is vital to keeping young people from developing serious and life-long issues with addiction, as alcohol and other drug abuse remain the problem behaviors contributing to the most serious problems facing our communities today. In fact, the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse estimates the U.S. spends more than half a trillion dollars each year responding to the consequences of substance abuse and addiction.

As prevention professionals and the stewards of our field, we know good intentions are not good enough for selecting and implementing prevention strategies. We are ethically obligated to use the knowledge of what works if we want to protect students from initiating drug use or developing addiction.