Early prevention of alcohol and other drug use among adolescents

Among a variety of methods to prevent drug use among adolescents, school-community based prevention and intervention programs are prevalent. The impact of such programs will be compromised, however, if drug use among adolescents is impacted by forces apart from the impact of school-community prevention and intervention, such as the function of the family. On the other hand, prevention and intervention programs can have a powerful impact if teenage drug use is responded to through early intervention. The purpose of this study was to review a sample of students referred for drug assessments to determine how early intervention should occur and how involved high school and middle school students are with alcohol and other drugs.