STAGE 5. Defining the action plan

What steps should be completed?

Step 1: Specify intervention actions

EVIDENCE ON DRUG PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS

Preventive interventions aim to prevent initiation of drug use, or delay the age of onset if it is not possible to prevent it, and prevent progression from experimental use to habitual use. These interventions can be carried out at different stages of people’s development, although they should focus on the most risky ages (e.g., the transition from childhood to adolescence) and throughout the entire critical period when the risks are present. 

It is not currently possible to say that there are valid preventive interventions for everyone, since they must all be suited to the characteristics and conditions of the people they are addressing. The results of many programmes also tend to fade with time, so actions should generally be designed to include reinforcement or reminder activities and continuity through time, opting for programme sustainability. 

The complexity, intensity and duration of preventive interventions should be related to their recipients’ level of risk. The greater the accumulation of risk factors and/or the fewer the protection factors (selective prevention or indicated prevention), the more intensive and prolonged the interventions should generally be, and the earlier they should be initiated and carried out.

Effective preventive interventions are also cost-effective, as they provide future savings for the community in the fields of health, law, security etc., which exceed the costs of developing and applying them. This has been demonstrated by various studies in the USA and, to a lesser degree,^{1, 2, 3} other countries, and NIDA⁴ famously stated that, for every dollar invested in prevention, it is possible to make a saving of up to 10 dollars in treatment for the abuse of alcohol or other substances.

You may now review the information about the current evidence on drug prevention interventions at different stages in a person's development. If you wish, you can expand on the information in this topic by referring to the document “International Standards on Drug Use Prevention” published by The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) , which the information in the following sections is mainly taken from:

• Prevention interventions in early childhood. +
• Prevention interventions in childhood. +
• Prevention interventions in pre-adolescence. +
• Prevention interventions in adolescence. +
• Prevention interventions in youth and adulthood. +
• Prevention interventions with little evidence for their efficacy. +

 

References:

1 Aos S et al. (2004). Benefits and costs of prevention and early intervention programs for youth. Washington State Policy Institute.

2 Miller TA & Hendrie D. (2008). Substance Abuse Prevention: Dollars and Cents: A Cost-Benefit Analysis. Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), SAMHSA. DHHS Pub. No 07 4298, Rockville, MD. 

3 Hormigo J et al. (2009). Análisis de coste-beneficio de un programa de prevención del tabaquismo en escolares [Cost-benefit analysis of a school-based smoking prevention program]. Gaceta Sanitaria. 23(4):311-4

4 National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). (2004). Preventing drug use among Children and adolescents: A research-based guide for parents, educators and community leaders (2nd ed.).