STAGE 5. Defining the action plan

What steps should be completed?

Step 1: Specify intervention actions

PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS WITH LITTLE EVIDENCE ON THEIR EFFICACY*

Organising drug-free sports and/or leisure activities (alternative leisure programmes)

These programmes offer adolescents opportunities to participate in sporting activities and other forms of drug-free (or allegedly incompatible with drug use) leisure to encourage ties to healthy social activities that move them away from drug use and other risky behaviours. However, the scarcity of any studies evaluating the impact of organising these activities on drug use or its intermediate variables (attitudes, skills, etc.) does not allow any informed statements to be made about their effectiveness. The practice of sport itself is also not always associated with lower rates of drug use. In fact, it has sometimes been associated with a higher prevalence of tobacco consumption and alcohol abuse.

However, possible recommendations for this type of programme have been suggested¹: involve the target population when planning activities, incorporate elements of skills development, combine them with environmental strategies, and plan interventions with many hours of activity included in the programme. These programmes may have some potential to reach high-risk youths who are not very receptive to school programmes, opening the door to more structured interventions. In fact, there are indications that they could be more effective with youngsters who are lacking supervision and have few opportunities to develop the skills to prevent behavioural problems.

Preventing psychotropic drugs abuse (recreational or non-prescription use)

The use of non-prescription psychotropic drugs is a growing phenomenon in many countries, affecting different population group depending on the type of substance and the place (young people, women, the elderly, homeless children, etc.) and having similar consequences to illegal drug abuse. No scientific studies have evaluated the efficacy of interventions to prevent the use of these drugs, but some intervention pathways may be noted: 1) the most effective preventive interventions are not specific to a substance, but affect risk factors and protection factors in a non-specific way, so some school and family programmes also appear to have positive results on the non-medical use of psychotropic drugs; 2) influencing the potential ways that these medicines can be accessed (fraud, theft, internet, family, friends, etc.) is another opportunity for prevention; 3) educating parents about the need for these medications to be used only on prescription, both when used by parents themselves or their children; 4) implementing both support and control measures for physicians; 5) implementing community systems to recover expired or unused medicines; 6) training healthcare professionals to identify and manage the abuse of these drugs.           

Preventing use of new psychoactive substances

Consumption of new psychoactive substances that are not controlled by international regulations (called smart drugs or legal highs) has increased in many countries in recent years. As is the case when preventing psychotropic drug abuse, there is a lack of rigorous scientific research on the effectiveness of interventions to prevent the use of these substances. However, it is also worth considering here that most effective preventive interventions are not specific to a substance, but generic or non-specific. Therefore, it seems reasonable to think that evidence-based preventive interventions that act on vulnerability factors at an early age, or training in coping skills, could also be effective in preventing use of these substances.

    

* Based on: International Standards on Drug Use Prevention (UNODC). 

 

References:

1 Fernandez JR& Secades R. (2003). Guía de referencia para la evaluación de programas de prevención de ocio alternativo [Reference guide to evaluation of leisure–related prevention programmes]. Madrid: Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos y Plan Nacional sobre Drogas.