Substance Abuse Prevention Services

Substance Abuse Prevention

The Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse's (DASA) Prevention Program is aimed at preventing alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use and abuse to reduce their negative consequences and minimizing future needs for chemical dependency treatment.

DASA's prevention program covers all segments of the population at potential risk for drug and alcohol use and abuse. However, the primary focus is on children who have not yet begun use or are still only experimenting. Research indicates that youth who initiate alcohol and/or other drug use before the age of 15 are twice as likely to experience alcohol or drug problems than those who wait until after the age of 19. The U.S. Surgeon General's 1994 Report, "Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People," found that if adolescents are kept tobacco-free, they are extremely unlikely to take up tobacco use later in life.

DASA has two main prevention goals: 1) delay onset of use; and 2) reduce alcohol, tobacco, and other drug misuse. DASA has also adopted performance measures for the 1999-2001 Biennium: to increase the number of children in each of three grades -- 6th, 8th, and 10th -- who have not used alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana in the past 30 days.

Prevention Works!  Resource Kit: Substance Abuse and Other Problems

Statewide Prevention Programs

Announcing a New Website for Parents

The Division's Philosophy

DASA has adopted a "risk and protective factor" approach as the cornerstone of its efforts to prevent alcohol and other drug abuse. Risk factors are personal, family or community characteristics that increase the likelihood an individual will use alcohol or other drugs. Protective factors are similar characteristics that help insulate individuals from substance-abusing behaviors.

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Seventeen risk factors have been identified for substance use/abuse, in four major domains:

1. Community

Availability of drugs
Community laws and norms favorable toward drug use
Transitions and mobility
Low neighborhood attachment and community disorganization
Extreme economic deprivation

2. Family

Family history of substance abuse
Family management problems
Family conflict
Favorable parental attitudes and involvement with substance abuse

3. School

Early and persistent antisocial behavior
Academic failure beginning in late elementary school
Lack of commitment to school

4. Individual/Peers

Rebelliousness
Friends who engage in substance abuse
Favorable attitudes toward substance use
Early initiation of substance use
Constitutional factors

Protective factors include individual protective characteristics, bonding to family, school, community and/or peers, and health beliefs and clear standards for behavior.

DASA contracts with the Department of Social and Health Services' Research and Data Analysis to compile risk and protection profiles for each of the 39 counties. These profiles provide substantial support to counties in program planning, resource allocation, and the development of outcome measures.

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