PDF (Lessons learned in drug abuse prevention: a global review)

Traditionally, drug abuse prevention has been classified as Primary, Secondary and
Tertiary prevention: 13
● Primary prevention aims to prevent people from using drugs
A CASE FOR DRUG
ABUSE PREVENTION
● Secondary prevention aims to reduce existing risk behaviour and symptoms
through early intervention
● Tertiary prevention aims to reduce the impact of the illness/symptoms a person suffers
An increasingly popular way of classifying prevention initiatives is as follows: 14
● Universal Prevention Programmes – These aim to reach the general population,
such as students in a school, to promote the overall health of the population and to
prevent the onset of drug abuse. Measures often associated with universal prevention
include campaigns to raise awareness of the hazards of substance abuse, school drug
education programmes, multi-component community initiatives, and, in the case of
alcohol and tobacco, warning labels.
● Selected Prevention Programmes – These target groups at risk or subsets of the
general population such as children of drug users or students with poor school
achievement. Selective prevention programmes aim generally to reduce the influence
of these risk factors and to prevent or reduce drug abuse by building on strengths such
as coping strategies and other life skills. Children in difficult environments may benefit
from selective prevention interventions at the pre – and early school ages.
● Indicated Prevention Programmes – These target young people who are identified
as already having started to use drugs, or as exhibiting behaviours that make problematic
drug use a likelihood, but who do not yet meet formal diagnostic criteria for
a substance use disorder which requires specialised treatment. Examples of such
programmes include providing social skills or parent-child interaction training for drugusing
youth.
Label
Typical Target Group
Typical Goal
Typical Initiative
Universal
All children in a
school
Prevent onset of use
Life skills education/health
education curriculum in school
Selective
Young people with
risk factors
Prevent onset of use
Specific provision focusing on
risk and protective factors
Indicated
Young people
already using drugs
Prevent continued use,
prevent problematic
and harmful use
Individual or small group
programme specifically
designed to meet individual
needs
This classification encourages the selection and development of prevention initiatives
appropriate to the level of risk of the proposed target group.
Level of drug involvement
It is important to establish the type of drug abuse prevention that matches the level of
potential for drug abuse. Three groups of youth are identified according to risk of drug
abuse:
● No risk yet: This group or individuals do not report any drug use and do not have
any particular risk factor that elevates their risk for future use at this time.
● At-risk: These young people are at increased risk of drug abuse because of exposure
to individual or environmental risk factors, such as the presence of aggression, being
a school dropout, or being raised in a family in which one or both parents are addicts.
● Already using drugs: This group represents youth that are already using substances
and may show early signs of problems.
13 Van der Steel, J (ed). Pompidou Group – Council of Europe and Jellinek Consultancy. 1998. Handbook
Prevention: Alcohol, Drugs and Tobacco. Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France.
14 The terms universal, selected and indicative were described by R. Gordon in 1987 to replace the terms primary,
secondary and tertiary prevention. The model was adapted by the US Institute of Medicine Committee
on Prevention of Mental Disorders in 1994, and applied to drug abuse by the National Institute on Drug Abuse
in a 1997 publication Preventing drug use among children and adolescents: a research-based guide.
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